


Fire on Fire

by scarletfxre



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canonical Alternate Universe, F/M, Hurt Wanda Maximoff, Light Dom/sub, Porn With Plot, Pre-Wanda Maximoff/Vision, Slow Burn, Teacher-Student Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-19
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:14:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 23
Words: 45,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22324633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scarletfxre/pseuds/scarletfxre
Summary: “What would you have me wear?”“Hmm...” Stephen pressed his lips together, his immediate response was going to be, “Nothing.”-Wanda Maximoff is filled with vengeance after the deaths of her parents and mentor. She goes into a spiral of villainy, until she meets Doctor Strange who tries to heal her in more ways than one...
Relationships: Wanda Maximoff & Stephen Strange, Wanda Maximoff/Stephen Strange, Wanda Maximoff/Vision
Comments: 12
Kudos: 58





	1. nothing more horrifying

**THE STREETS FILLED** with coloured smoke from protesters flooding the streets, parading around with signs and shouting to get rid of the new revolution that was quickly polluting the world.

And, to anyone you asked there, the source of the pollution could only be described as two words...Tony Stark.

Sokovia was blown to hell long before the likes of these Avengers came to bring their 'suit of armour around the world' bull crap.

The two people who knew this more than most were two native twins, Wanda and Pietro Maximoff.

They had been orphaned at ten when a bomb crashed into their homes, it had been so sudden. Once minute they were eating dinner with their family, laughing and joking - being a happy family, a perfect one.

Until the next they heard a loud crash out of nowhere, some screams...Then everything went black and suddenly the two were buried under the rubble with nothing else but the feeling of knowing that their parents had died from the explosion and the bomb shell that caused it lying next to them.

They had nothing to do but wait, still and silent...thinking it would go off again. But it never did, and they waited two days, cold, alone and shaking, for the bomb to kill them...for Stark Industries to kill them, for Tony Stark.

That vengeance clouded their thoughts like an endless fog, they wanted to kill him for what he had done.

He had took everything from them, he would pay. That's the only reason why they had been crazy enough to volunteer for Strucker's experiments. They had no clue of what Hydra was, all they knew was that it was the people who offered the chance to finally get what they had been longing for.

But they didn't know the experiments would be torture. They didn't know it would be like a thousand knives burning through their brains, scorching into their bodies and seeping in like a poison right into their deepest darkest emotions.

That's what fuelled them.

Their emotions, it kept them ticking through the most terrible pain...keeping them alive to wait for what haunted their minds the most, revenge.

For the past few years, Wanda and Pietro had been training under Strucker's command.

Everyday they learnt something new about their powers which they struggled to adapt to.

However difficult, they did adapt...

Wanda had eventually figured out that she was able to focus more of her psionic powered telepathy and using energy to move objects.

While Pietro was testing the limits of his increased speed went through training to run faster than sound.

They were good but they weren't great yet, they still had many more years before they could go up against the Avengers....

════▣◎▣════

**"WANDA...WANDA!" THE** Blonde Maximoff jogged his sister, turning her side to side until her snores drowned out and her eyes snapped open, wide awake.

"What?" Wanda asked annoyed, still half asleep. Until her ears were filled with the distant sound of a siren, "Urgh.."

"Yeah, exactly. Get up!" Pietro said as he threw clothes in Wanda's face, he turned around - waiting for her to get ready.

"Is it them this time?" Wanda asked as she chucked her pyjamas on the floor, switching them out for the black dress and red cardigan her brother had thrown at her.

"Fingers crossed," Pietro replied with a smirk, crossing his fingers, "Are you done?"

"Yes," Wanda said, "Let's go, Strucker must be waiting."

He picked his sister up swiftly and in a few seconds, took them into the intercom room, where Baron Strucker was standing next to the security camera monitors, watching what seemed to be a fight.

"What's going on?" Pietro asked, Strucker turned around, facing them with a devilish smile that they knew all too well.

He had good news.

"Ah, my prized pupils. You're finally ready...it's time. I know I said we needed more time but...they found me," Strucker's lips twisted into an eerie smirk and his eyes shone with an excited, dangerous glare, "They're here."

"They..." Wanda smiled smugly, she turned to her brother, "The Avengers."

"I'm on it," Pietro quickly sped out of Strucker's base.

"I'm following him," Wanda said, starting to trail after him.

"No. You must stay here, I can't run the risk of the Avengers finding me..." Strucker ordered.

"But, Pietro-"

"Can handle himself. We need to be prepared for the Avengers arrival, be ready to toy with their minds."

She bit her nails as she tried to follow the changing images on the screens, the echo of her heeled boots tapping on the stone floor bore into Strucker's skull - agitating him.

"Oh for heavens sake, stop!" He shouted, Wanda paused her movements, trying to follow along again patiently.

But every time her brother disappeared, she started getting antsy, "Is Pietro still there?"

"Yes. He is!" Strucker yelled before continuing to watch through the cameras, he calmed down a little, "He's just too fast to watch, don't try to hard to see him."

Wanda felt her pounding heart beat become a bit slow as he reassured her but she became worried again when Strucker's eyebrows creased with disproval.

"What happened?" She asked, her eyes wide.

Wanda couldn't get his attention though, he immediately spoke to his armed forces and sent more men out to the field.

Strucker was too busy talking but she swore she saw a figure approach the east building.

She probably should have warned Strucker but if she didn't act now, they probably would get inside.

Wanda crept away quietly as she went to the secluded entrance where she saw the figure was hastily approaching.

Wanda immediately ran into Captain America, who was quickly advancing up the stairs.

"Where's Strucker?..." Steve spat, addressing the girl that stood before him, "Where's the sceptre?"

Before Steve could catch his breath, he was flung to the ground by Wanda's powers, she had tripped him and sent him tumbling down the stairs.

"Not telling," Wanda said, making her voice commanding and stern.

Steve quickly ran up the stairs, Wanda shot a stream of red towards him, knocking back down again.

Strucker came rushing through the doors behind Wanda, he gave her a disapproving look before turning to Steve, "You shouldn't be here Captain."

He quickly ran up the stairs again and pushed Strucker against the wall violently, holding him down with his arm against his throat.

He asked again, "Where's the sceptre!"

"Not...telling..." Strucker panted between breaths as he kicked Steve in the shins, knocking him off balance.

Steve got to his feet as Strucker came towards him again with a gun in hand, Steve threw his shield towards Strucker, aiming for his gun.

Wanda threw her hands out, a stream of red shooting out from her palms, hitting the shield and knocking it off projectile and straight into Strucker's face.

"No!" Wanda cried, running towards Strucker - his body slammed against the wall, blood dripping down the sides of the brick and onto the floor.

"Oh god..." Steve said as he checked Strucker's pulse with two fingers on his neck, "He's..."

"Dead...I killed him," Wanda's eyes flashed red, "You killed him! This is all your fault..."

Strucker was part of the only family she had left, the only person she cared about more than him was Pietro.

In an odd way...Strucker was like a father to them, he at least made them feel a tiny bit wanted...appreciated. Loved was a stretch but she couldn't help but feel overwhelming sadness as he died.

"You don't know what's going on. Y-You don't have do this," Steve choked on his words, placing his shield behind his back in surrender, "I...can help you, we can help you."

"Help me? No thanks, you Avengers are killers," In a split second, Wanda had knocked him onto the ground with a powerful red glow, "And you will pay for this. I know that and so will you."

Wanda backed into the doorway, her gaze strong and sinister, taking in her witchy nature, which effect was deepened by the puffy red stain of tears. 

She left as she closed the doors with a twist of her fingers.

"Another enhanced, female. Do not engage," Steve said into his earpiece, "I repeat, do not engage."

Steve ran out the other way, back down the stairs.

Wanda headed to the secret lavatory, she knew they would have found the sceptre by now since no one else was left to guard.

She assumed it would be someone as pretentious as Stark or as bulky Thor who would manage to get past the guards.

She entered quietly, not wanting any Avengers waiting there to spot her.

She saw Tony Stark, as suspected, staring at it intently - trying to make a choice at what to do with it.

But she couldn't quite make out what he was thinking.

"Thor, I got eyes on the prize," Tony spoke. He poked around the room, looking around at Strucker's blueprints, scattered along the tables in the back of the room.

It didn't take long for him to realise what was depicted on the drawings, it was a design for...a cyborg? Robot? 

He picked them up before circling back to the sceptre.

She was so close to him, hidden in the darkness - she was actually surprised he didn't notice, she could just kill him right now and he wouldn't even know.

She spread out her palms, her power expanded through them and into Tony's brain.

Wanda's eyes expanded as she peeked into his mind, he had a terrible vision of death...

Wanda was shocked at how much fear he had for the world.

The destruction he had saw was terrifying and it was going to make him do crazy things...this crazy thing.

Pietro sped in next to Wanda after a while, he had been chasing Tony all the way here and his sister was just standing there watching him with Loki's sceptre right in his grasp.

Tony stark slowly moved towards it, he went right up to the sceptre and reached a hand out to grab it.

Wanda watched carefully as he was about to take it, she felt Pietro itch to stop him behind her and held our her hand to stop him, "Wait."

"We're just going to let him take it?" Pietro asked, confused. Wanda didn't reply - she just watched closely as Tony snatched the sceptre and flashed a nefarious smile on her face.

"Yes...but the Avengers will pay," The size of Wanda's smile increased, "I promised."

"So what's first?"

"First we kill Captain America," A look of disgust on Wanda's face at the mere thought of him, "Then Stark...then the rest of them will suffer."


	2. your will is equal to ours

**"STEVE, IT WASN'T** your fault. The old  
geezer had it comin' to him," Tony said, placing a hand on Steve's shoulder, a nonchalant look on his face.

"Stop," Steve said, brushing his hand off.

"Look, Steve. How many times have we gotta tell you? You're not a killer," Bruce pitched in.

"I know, but I can't help but feel like one. I can't stop thinking about her face, the girl. It was just like...like I took everything from her," Steve explained, "Like I...I don't know."

"What's the worse that could happen if you got off the couch, Cap? You might become a Couchsicle for seventy years..."

"God, Tony. Stop."

Nick Fury had been trying to get a hold of the Captain for weeks. And was starting to get irritated at him hiding out in the Avengers Tower...

"Steve, you need to stop with this...this righteous...guilt act!" Tony yelled, getting annoyed now.

"Tony, don't shout," Bruce pleaded, "Thor, Nat - help me out here?"

"No, Stark is quite right. I've had enough of this hand-holding," Thor spoke up in the corner of the room, discarding of the Pop-tarts box.

"Hand-holding? Steve is practically living on couch dust...The man's broken! He hasn't moved for weeks!" Bruce said, slamming a hand down on the table.

"I'm still here, you know?" Steve said, raising a hand.

"Careful, boys...Don't want him to get angry," Natasha pitched in, nodding to Bruce, then turning back to the magazine she was scrolling through absentmindedly.

Thor continued, ignoring Nat's previous comment, "So what do you suggest we do, Banner?"

"Well, anything but forcing him up!" Bruce pleaded.

"There you go, Bruce, always with the peaceful protesting," Tony rolled his eyes.

"Just stop!" Natasha groaned, closing her magazine shut.

"We know your hurting, Cap. But you've got to let this go at some point. We're just trying to help you. He was a bad guy and it was an accident," She smiled, trying to give Steve some comfort, "Unfortunately, Tony's right...You have to get up. We're all tired of smelling a cross between expired Cheetos and armpit. But like Bruce said we're not going to force you."

She got up to sit next to him, "At least go on this one mission with us and see what happens. Please. We need you. We can't do this without you."

They were a team...and without Cap holding them together, they were sorta muddled without him.

"Listen. I used to have nothing. And then I got this. This job...this family," Natasha lowered her voice, talking directly to Steve as she placed a hand on his shoulder, "And I was...I was better because of it."

"You really gonna try and guilt trip me into this, huh?"

"You know it."

Steve was a piece of the puzzle and he kept things together, he and Tony really were a joint partnership - they were leaders. Tony was alright on his own but he could piss everyone off with his whimsical wise-ass comments.

God knows what would happen if they ever got angry with each other...

"I guess Fury is probably tired of asking about me..." Steve scratched his head as he sat up on the couch.

"Oh my...somebody call the convent because he has risen," Tony said, smiling which Steve returned this time.

"Just for this one mission, just to see where my head's at," Steve said, lifting himself off the couch, "Where are we headed?"

"It's a surprise," Tony said with a teasing smirk.

"Well, it can't be good then, can it?" Steve sighed.

════▣◎▣════

**THE QUINJET HOVERED** above  
the gloomy city of Sokovia. Steve immediately recognised the misty state from its grey outline and unmistakable run-down buildings.

"So this is the surprise?" Steve turned to Tony who was busy pressing buttons to land.

"No, not just yet," Tony smiled.

"No?" Steve asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Well, there's no turning back now," Natasha patted Steve on the back, "The couch is a long way from here."

"I guess it's time for me to suit up," Bruce jumped out of the Quinjet, his eyes turning green as his skin grew large until in his place was the Incredible Hulk; stomping the streets of Sokovia.

"I would have told him to wait but..." Steve shrugged, "I guess it's too soon for a lullaby."

"Cheer up, Captain. You finally have the chance to reconcile with the girl whose heart you so shattered," Thor said, reaching a hand out for Mjølnir to come flying into his palm, "Just try and focus on our mission."

"What exactly is the mission?" Steve asked.

"To find the Maximoff twins, one of them being the girl you keep referring to and bring them in," Nat said, "Fury thought it would be best to bring them in, in case they had any plans, it would have been sooner. If not for your, well...you know."

"Maximoff?" Steve asked.

"Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. Twins. Orphaned at ten when a shell collapsed their apartment building," Widow explained.

"Their abilities?"

"He's got increased metabolism and improved thermal homeostasis. Her thing is neural electric interfacing, telekinesis, mental manipulation," Tony answered but sighed when Steve gave him a weird look.

"She's fast and he's weird."

"How do you know all this?"

"Hill identified them this morning. And, oh yeah, surprise!" Tony yelled, immediately calling for his suit, which flew onto him piece by piece as Steve gave him a fierce glare.

  
*

As the Avengers entered the city of Sokovia, inside the walls of Strucker's former base; Wanda and Pietro were waiting.

"I told you, Pietro. They're here just as planned, we are ready this time," Wanda looked out at the city, behind the snowy mountains, which was already falling into ruins. It seemed to be even more so after the last time 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes' were there.

"And are you sure about this?" Pietro asked.

"Yes, you aren't getting cold feet now. Are you? Remember these are the people who killed our parents and our mentor."

"Right," Pietro was worried about Wanda, she had been so angry lately. He knew she was secretly hiding the fact that she thought she was the cause of Baron's death.

But he didn't dare to bring it up after the last time he tried to convince her, she almost went crazy with guilt...

Similar to Steve...

Pietro dropped Wanda as they arrived in the streets, trying to spot anyone.

They had Captain America first on their list, but they wouldn't waste any time getting rid of any collateral damage.

Pietro was knocked onto the floor with a grunt as he was kicked in the head, taken by surprise as Black Widow came up behind them.

"Pietro!" Wanda yelled as she gathered bright red energy in her hands, spiralling it towards Natasha Romanoff, who was immediately knocked to the ground.

Wanda turned to Pietro again, who had gotten to his feet, "Get to the main city, find Rogers. Keep him busy. I'll meet you there in ten minutes to carry out the plan."

Pietro flashed away, a stream of silver followed behind him.

Wanda kept Natasha occupied, in hand to hand combat as she tried to keep up with her. All she needed to do was stall until Pietro got Cap...

"You kids have got this all planned out, huh?" Natasha said, throwing another kick towards Wanda's face which she quickly dodged with a blast of red.

"I don't have time for questions," Wanda growled, shoving her back with her powers then running off before Black Widow could follow or stop her.

Natasha pressed her earpiece, "I've found the Maximoffs. They're heading to the main city."

Wanda caught glimpses of Pietro running past in the city. He stopped after a while, in front of Wanda, "Can't find him."

"Are you sure?" Wanda looked around, she took in deep breaths, exhausted from running most of the way.

"Yes, I looked all over the main city," He circles his finger.

"Didn't look hard enough," There was a clang of metal as Captain America threw his shield, missing Pietro as he sped out of the way.

"You..." Wanda let a smirk form at the corner of her lips.

"I don't want a fight," Steve said. Wanda crossed her eyebrows, at her brother, "Well...I wanted to talk to you."

Wanda rolled her eyes, "Let's just get this over with."

She threw him a wave of scarlet, kicking him to the floor.

Soon the green rage monster jumped into the scene, Natasha was clutching into him but got off him as he hurtled towards, Wanda who ducked out of the way.

Pietro engaged in a battle with Cap, punching and kicking him as fast as he could - blue streaks flying in the air where he left.

Wanda was struggling to fight off the Hulk and Black Widow, throwing her arms out tiresomely - blasting them backwards.

Soon, Hawkeye was making his way down to the fight, with all of them together it wouldn't be hard to reprimand two teenagers.

"Pietro!" Wanda shouted, "Any chance you could give me a hand?"

Hawkeye was already starting to shoot arrows towards Wanda and Pietro.

"Gonna need some help here, Tony," Natasha said to her earpiece.

"On my way," Tony said, "Coming to join the party."

Wanda was finding it harder to concentrate, she felt her headache as blood started to drip from her nose.

She felt her mind boggle as she caught the figure of Thor in the corner of her eyes, "Urgh!"

She pushed her hands down, stretching them out and releasing a wave of bright energy that spiral out of her palms, hitting those closest to her.

The Hulk tumbled back into a car, smashing the glass, his green skin faded as he slowly turned back to Bruce Banner.

Clint was thrown backwards, he wasn't up close so he was blasted onto the ground.

Natasha was sent into the air, the energy sent her into the city building, her body was flung into the glass.

The delicate fragments scattered everywhere as the state of Natasha was left to be sent as she was inside the abandoned block.

It wasn't said but the look everyone shared was knowing. Cap let go of where he was holding Pietro by the neck. Clint's eyes were wide with shock, as were Bruce's. Thor landed softly to the ground, previously ready to fight.

Wanda was scared witless, her eyes were saucers as they filled with tears. She had been full of fiery vengeance to kill Steve and was actually excited to but as she came to the actualisation of what she'd done to another...she couldn't handle it.

Her hand shook harshly as she brought it up to her mouth, "I...I-"

"No! You don't apologise!" Clint yelled, getting up to his feet, tears laced in his words, he spoke to his earpiece, "Tony, we have a problem."

Wanda swallowed back tears as she went up to Pietro, "We have to go."

Pietro picked her up swiftly by the waist and was gone in a swift blue flash.


	3. they took everything from me

**A/N-** This chapter contains descriptions that may be considered gory - take caution and if you are sensitive skip that section with the story labelled with ‘warning.’

  
**THE SPEEDSTER DROPPED** his sister on the ground of the old church, where they had gone to escape the Avengers' grasp.

Pietro immediately grabbed Wanda's shoulders, making her look him in the eye, "We have to leave Sokovia."

"I know," Wanda said, she was still in shock of what she had done, "I...I think I-I murdered that woman."

"I thought that's what you wanted?" Pietro asked, "To kill the Avengers and make them pay for what they have done."

"No, no...I didn't mean to," Her accent was getting thicker with stress, "I thought that was what I wanted but I was wrong. I feel terrible. I feel evil."

"It wasn't all your fault, Wanda," Pietro ran a hand through his hair and started rambling, "Maybe, maybe they'll understand? It was an accident. It was. They were attacking you and you lost control-"

"Pietro! Slow down," Wanda took hold of Pietro's hands, "You have to leave without me. You can't be with me."

"What?" Pietro let out a laugh, "What are you talking about?"

"I can't let you ruin your life because of me," She explained, "If we stay together, all you'll be doing is trying to run away from me."

Pietro looked to the ground, knowing what she was saying was far too true - he didn't want to believe it.

"You don't expect me to just let you fight off S.H.I.E.L.D by yourself? All alone?" Pietro scoffed, "That's not happening."

"I'm being serious. Go," Wanda scolded, "I'm not giving you a choice, Pietro."

"Where will you go?"

"I...I'll figure it out."

"That's...no."

"Listen, Pietro. Forget about me, find the Avengers, tell them you lost me, that I left you...tell them it was all me and that you made a mistake...They can't think you're involved any more than being one of Strucker's experiments. Do you understand?"

Pietro was silent, so Wanda clarified, "I said, do you understand?"

"You know...I'm twelve minutes older than you," Pietro smiled a little.

Wanda chuckled, before spying S.H.I.E.L.D agents, armed with heavy weaponry either side of them, "Go."

Pietro kissed Wanda on the head, "Be safe."

"I'll miss you," Was all Wanda managed to say before Pietro sped off.

She shielded her face with her arm as she heard the sound of gunshots.

The agents advanced, so she felt to the ground on her knees, letting out a grunt of effort before sending out waves of energy from her hands. It spiralled into the men blowing them apart and turning them into dust.

════▣◎▣════

**"WHAT'S GOING ON?"** Tony Stark landed with a clang of metal, he lifted his helmet to reveal his wary face.

"Natasha, they were fighting her and she went through the glass and..." Steve trailed off, looking up to the building.

Tony didn't waste a second, he knew they were all dreading to go up there. His helmet slammed closed as he pushed his hands down to activate his thrusters.

He looked around as he walked over broken glass, scattered in fragments on the ground.

─────────

 **WARNING** !

──────────

The building had been disused and derelict for a long time, it had undergone unexecuted construction. There were pieces of collapsed wood and cement in places around the room.

What stuck out the most was the piece of sharp wood, sticking out like a needle, which Natasha's body was brutally spiked through.

The expression on her face was grim and alarming as her mouth hung open in shock, along with her lifeless green eyes which were wide. Her bright red hair had fallen over most of her face, but Tony could see that she wasn't moving.

The wood had been pushed violently into her chest, tearing her flesh. Blood oozed out from her torso, it was stark red in the light, softly dripping to the floor, creating a small puddle of the crimson fluid which Tony had stepped in before realising.

Tony took a step back, his breath halted before he could adjust to what he was seeing, one of his friends were dead. Guilt waved over his mind as he thought about her voice over the earpiece, "Gonna need your help, Tony."

──────────

 **END OF WARNING** !

──────────

Tony stopped himself from letting his eyes water as he talked to the intercom, "She's...she's gone, guys."

Clint kicked against a car, he was enraged as he burst into tears, "No..."

Bruce fell to the ground and bunched his hair into his hands, tugging aggressively to try and keep his anger from rising. Thor dropped his hammer as he crouched to comfort him.

Steve was distraught as he looked into the distance, he removed his helmet as a tear rolled down his face.

He spotted a familiar trace of blue come near them as he looked at the road ahead, "Guys..."

Pietro appeared in front of them, he was still shaky, he was pretty certain that he heard gunshots back there, "I'm not going to fight you."

"Damn right, you're not. We should kill you for what you did!" Clint shouted, grabbing hold of Pietro by the shirt.

A Quinjet zoomed past, attempting to gun down Pietro but he was faster. He used his powers to slow down, pushing the bullets out of the way. Clint ducked to the floor, almost thinking he was dead.

Clint, who was next to him, would have almost got shot if it wasn't for Pietro just then.

Clint rose off the ground, looking at him, "T-Thank you..."

"As I said, it wasn't me, it was my sister. And, she's gone."

"What happened?" Steve asked.

"She made me take her to the outskirts of the city before leaving me."

"Do you know where she went?"

"I don't. As I said, she left me. I didn't do this, it isn't my fault. And I'll do what I can to help."

"You want to help us?" Bruce asked.

"I do," Pietro answered, looking up to the window, "I...I'm sorry about your friend."

"Yeah, us too," Tony responded, "You can come with us, kid. But we'll leave it to S.H.I.E.L.D to decide whether or not your ass is going to be thrown in a cell."

════▣◎▣════

**BRUCE BANNER, CLINT** Barton,Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, and Thor Odinson were gathered in the Avengers Tower. 

Joining them was Colonel James Rhodes, Maria Hill, Pietro Maximoff, Sam Wilson and Helen Cho. They were all wearing black clothes and had just had Natasha's funeral ceremony.

They were sat around the sofas, the drinks Tony had poured out for them remained untouched and the conversation remained nonexistent as silence clouded the air.

Clint was still struggling to keep it together. Bruce was on the edge, as well as Steve and Tony who were trying to maintain order but were secretly frantic.

"Did she have any family?" Tony spoke up, causing everyone to turn around, allowing her to catch a glimpse of everyone's sombre faces.

"Yeah..." Steve answered. Tony was about to ask their names before he continued, "Us."

"It was a beautiful ceremony," Rhodey added, changing the subject slightly.

"It was a beautiful ceremony...that shouldn't have happened," Clint cracked his knuckles aggressively, "She didn't deserve that. I owe her more than that, I should have protected her."

"Lady Natasha was a good person and dear member of our team," Thor said.

"Don't blame yourself, Barton," Steve tried to be comforting.

"Why? You were pretty content doing it yourself, over Strucker of all people..."

"There's need to start a fight," Bruce spoke up, "That's not what...she would have wanted."

"We don't have time to sulk any longer," Tony said, "That Scarlet Bitch killed Romanoff and for all we know, she's still out there."

"It's true, we sent a fleet of agents to Sokovia to retrieve them and all 30 of them have disappeared..." Maria said, "She is definitely still out there."

She glanced over at Pietro, who was separated from the others - he was the only one not wearing black clothes as he did not attend the funeral.

He didn't think it would be appropriate to intrude...considering things.

"I don't think rushing into it is the best idea," Steve said.

"What do you want us to do then?" Tony asked, "Are you suggesting another couch-sit? If I recall correctly, you're sitting on the exact one..."

"Tony..." Steve sighed, he didn't have time for that, "We're clearly angry, distraught...distracted. We need a break."

"You really think a holiday is the best idea?" Sam asked, lowering his voice and leaning into Steve who was next to him, "Considering...everything."

Sam was hinting towards something else, since Steve's couch-sitting, Steve had asked The Falcon to do him a favour and search for Bucky. Steve had planned to join him when he was ready but was never ready to get around to it and still wasn't.

"Yes, we can all continue to do our separate things," Steve explained, "We just need to take a break..."

"The news is loving you guys. Nobody else is. Everyone is worried about the telekinetic criminal on the loose."

"Everyone's...we took a hit," Tony rationalised, "We'll shake it off."

"What would happen to me?" Pietro asked, his voice trembling, "Where would I go?"

"There's been no official call for your arrest but it's in the air," Maria said, "For now, I suggest you all stay in stealth mode and stay far away from here."

"So, run and hide?" Tony sighed.

"Until we can find Wanda Maximoff, I don't have a lot else to offer."

"Neither do we," Tony scratched his head, he didn't want to discuss the matter of having the blueprints from Strucker's lab with Agent Hill.

He didn't really want what he had planned getting thrown into the hands of S.H.I.E.L.D, and what he didn't know would also be Hydra.

"Where are we all going?" Steve asked.

"I know somewhere," Clint said, "It's a great place, anyone is free to join me."

"I think I'll take you up on that," Steve turned his head, "Bruce? Thor?"

"Actually, Dr Banner and I have a project we're working on," Tony informed him, "Us mad scientists find relaxation in work, it's a genius thing. Isn't that right, Bruce?"

"Um..." Bruce was too confused to question it, "Yeah."

"Thor?" Steve asked again.

"I saw something...I had a vision and I need answers," Thor grabbed his hammer as he walked towards the door, leaving, "I won't find them here."

"Well, I'm going to be busy. I have missions to complete," Sam said, picking up his black jacket, "I'm off."

"Well, Steve?" Clint rose from the chair, "I guess that's our exit."

He walked around the chair, catching a glimpse of Pietro in the corner of the room, he looked sad and scared. Clint felt sympathy for him, he was only a kid and he was probably terrified.

He placed a hand on Pietro's shoulder, "You saved my life back there. I can't forget something like that. Even though I'm mad at you...your sister. I still owe you. Hill? Would it be alright if speedy came with me?"

"I don't see any problem with it for now," She said, checking her watch, "I've got to head out."

"I didn't see this coming," Pietro smiled slightly, "Thank you, old man."

"No problem, kiddo."


	4. then i saw you and i knew

**EVERYONE HAD PACKED** up their things and had headed out of the door. They clearly weren't eager to stay for an extended amount of time.

Left lying around was Helen Cho, Bruce Banner, and Tony Stark. Helen had stayed around for a few drinks and conversation, mostly influenced by Tony.

"I don't know how else to put this out there...so," Tony put down his glass, "The sceptre wasn't the only thing I took from Strucker."

"What are you...Wh-What are you saying?" Bruce stepped on his words.

"I took some blueprints, designs for something he was working on and I want you to help me make it."

"Make it, Tony? What are you talking about?"

"I want to create Strucker's vision. Make it a reality."

"And, what would you need me for?" Helen asked.

"It needs a body. The Regeneration Cradle is marvellous...But it can do more than patching up boo-boos," Tony stood up, "Walk with me."

Helen and Bruce looked at each other before staring back at Tony and deciding to follow along.

"The Regeneration Cradle prints tissue, it can't build a living body," Helen added, protesting against Tony's imagination.

"It can, you can. All you need is the materials. You're a brilliant woman, Helen. But together, we all can make something amazing."

Tony tinkered around with buttons in his lab, "You see, we were wondering how Strucker got so inventive. So I've been analyzing the gem inside you may recognize."

He brought up a 3D image of Jarvis's consciousness, the yellow lights of coding circled around in a tangled ball.

"Jarvis," Bruce said.

"Doctor," Jarvis greeted.

"Oh," Helen said.

"Top of the line."

"Yes," Bruce agreed.

"I suspect not for long," Jarvis added.

"Meet the competition," Tony brought up another 3D image of another detailed spiral, similar to Jarvis but in blue colour and much more blue and fantastic. It was the Mind Stone, inside Loki's Sceptre.

"Wow," Helen gaped at the image.

"It's beautiful," Bruce complimented.

"If you had to guess, what does it look like it's doing?"

"Like it's thinking, I mean this could be a...I mean it's not a human mind, it..."

"Mm-mm."

"I mean look at this! They're like neurones firing."

"Even I have to admit, this is a lot," Helen smiled slightly, in defeat.

"Down in Strucker's lab I saw some fairly advance robotics work. They deep-sixed most of the data but I managed to get my hands on his plans and...I gotta say it looks a lot like he was knocking on a very particular door."

"Artificial intelligence," Helen answered.

"This could be it, guys. This could be the key to creating it."

"I thought this was a fantasy."

"Yesterday it was. If we can harness the power of the stone inside the sceptre, apply to Strucker's blueprints and place Jarvis inside of it..."

"I'm in," Helen said, "I would love to be apart of something like this. As long as you two can get the sciences in order."

Tony looked at Bruce.

"No," He said firmly.

"Come on! We need you here, we're out of my field. You know bio-organics better than anyone."

"And you just assume Jarvis's matrix is strong enough to withstand malfunctioning as a fully functioning body?"

"Started out, Jarvis was just a natural language UI. Now he runs the Iron Legion. He runs more of the business than anyone besides Pepper."

"I...How would this ever pan out? We're supposed to be running and hiding, remember?"

"I want to apply this to Strucker's program. But Jarvis can't download a data schematic this dense. We can only do it while we have the sceptre here, that's three days. Give me three days."

"That's works for me, the Cradle is in Seoul. I'll need time to bring it over and work hard on building the body...But like you said, I will need a lot of money for materials."

"Done. You can even fly to Korea with one of my planes, get you there in top speed, right?"

"You're going for artificial intelligence and you don't want to tell the team?" Bruce was still wary.

"Right. That's right, you know why? Because we don't have time for a city hall debate. I don't want to hear the "man was not meant to meddle" medley," Tony looked out to the window - his face changed to a solemn expression. "She's gone, Bruce. I can't help but feel like we need to do something, anything to make it up to her. I feel guilty...I see a suit of armour around the world."

Bruce could sympathize with that, his thoughts of doubt vanished as he mentioned Natasha, "I'm in."

════▣◎▣════

**WANDA MAXIMOFF WA** S trying to hide, she was doing everything she could to keep herself hidden.

She knew after Pietro had left and she...got rid of the S.H.I.E.L.D agents there was only a matter of time before they would send more people looking for her.

She hadn't seen the Avengers for a while, she didn't know where they had gone. She could only imagine they were devising a plan to capture her. Wanda knew she was wanted, it was all over the news and paper headlines...

_**'AVENGER KILLED BY DANGEROUS CRIMINAL!'** _

_**'ENHANCED SOKOVIAN ON THE LOOSE!'** _

_**'HORRIFIC DEATH OF A HERO.'** _

  
Long story, short - Wanda was panic-stricken. She was a villain and everywhere she went she had to look over her shoulder to make sure no one recognized her.

It had been a few months since the battle in Sokovia...she had to flee the country. Everyone there would recognize her too quickly...

Wanda adjusted the cap on her head as she browsed the small convenience store she had entered. She tapped on the black tinted glass of her shades as she scrolled through the aisles.

She picked up a few bags of chips, drinks and a few bags of bread, she dropped them into her bag as she walked away, checking around her.

The shopkeeper stopped her in her tracks, grabbing her by the shoulder, "Hey, kid - where do you think you're going? You need to pay for that."

"Oh, I'm sorry...I will," Wanda smiled, the shopkeeper still looked angry as he pulled her along. She could notice that he was suspicious of her Sokovian accent but he was clearly distracted with the anger of having a thief to deal with...

"You think this is some kind of joke? I'm going to call the police, then you'll be..."

Wanda used her other hand, that wasn't held captive to send a trickle of red whisps to the man's head, knocking him back and taking over his mind completely. He was in a deep trance as his eyes flashed ruby.

"Hey! What's going on here?" Another middle-aged man in the shop yelled.

She took the opportunity to escape, running as fast as her legs could take her down the street. It had been a couple of days since her last snack run and she had almost forgotten how it made her feel...it was kind of exciting - not the deceiving and stealing from people part, of course, but it was entertaining to see what each shopkeeper would do each time to try and stop her.

She had taken off down the streets of New York, she turned at least two corners and made a risky cross along the street before climbing up the stairs on the side of her apartment building, entering inside the window she had left open.

She dropped her bag on the floor before collapsing on the bed. She threw off her hat and cap before sitting up and dragging her load to the kitchen which was only one footstep away.

Her apartment wasn't anything magnificent, it was actually the complete opposite. It was all she could afford from a runaway salary, and the barest minimum she had in Sokovia which was also basically also nothing.

She threw the food into the cupboards, adding to the unorganized pile before grabbing a chips packet and tearing it open.

She moved toward the pile of junk mail by the door, picking up the newspaper on the floor - she was expecting another headline about her small incident being spotted in Russia a few weeks ago...

But she almost bit on her tongue as she read, _**'TONY STARK PROMISES NEW STATE-OF-THE-ART ROBOT.'**_

Underneath the headline was a picture of Tony, Bruce, and Helen, posing for the photograph, leaving a gap for the Regeneration Cradle in the background and she instantly noticed the faint, grainy image of a body inside it and the mind stone glowing vaguely.

"Shit..." Wanda cursed as she slammed down the newspaper and threw the chips in the bin.

She knew exactly what Tony Stark was building, she remembered every word of Strucker's rants, going on and on about his big creation...

Had Tony Stark really done what Strucker had worked towards all the whole she'd known him? Now, that she needed to see...

*

Wanda managed to sneak into the Avengers Facility, it didn't take too long to distract the guards and knock out a few of them to get to where she wanted.

She felt her heart pound in her chest as she walked past the room where the Avengers were gathered, she could hear them chattering in the room near the lab.

"I'm only gonna say this once!" Steve yelled.

"How about nonce?" Tony questioned, arguably.

"Shut it down!"

"Nope, not gonna happen."

"You don't know what you're doing!"

"And you do..." Wanda heard a few words of Bruce Banner before walking past the doorway stealthily, guessing the way to the lab.

She had managed to walk down only a few short halls before getting there.

She looked behind her before looking into the glass, staring at the inanimate android inside.

She placed her hands on the glass slowly, trying to read it. She was surprised she could read him, he was dreaming.

Helen had added finishing touches before leaving, she started the process of cellular cohesion but she knew that would take a few hours.

She had left Tony and Bruce to initiate the consciousness stream she had set up and they had started loading the cerebral matrix.

Inside the android's mind, she saw flashes of a man she had never met before, the images shot through her head at a mile a minute.

The only words she could use to describe them were horrifying...

Wanda took her hands off the cradle, letting out a piercing scream.

"What was that?" She heard Bruce ask from the other room.

"I'll go," Pietro said, speeding into the room.

She felt her heart drop in her chest as she caught her breath, frantic.

She turned around to see her brother staring at her, his eyes wide with utter shock as his eyebrows creased.

"Hey, Piet," Wanda said, a teasing tone in her voice. 

"Wanda?" He mouthed, trying to be quiet, he walked up to her - whispering, "I've missed you."

"So have I," Wanda smiled, going to hug him before being stopped.

"You," Bruce growled, coming into the lab along with the rest of the group - excluding Thor, who's absence was still unknown and Natasha who's absence...was.

"I know you're angry," Wanda reasoned, looking straight at him and seeing the anger in his eyes, she was slightly afraid of what he might do.

"Oh, we're way past that. I could choke the life out of you and never change a shade."

Steve intervened, "Banner, after everything that's happened..."

"It's nothing compared to what could!"

"You don't know what's in there..." Wanda took the side of Steve, what she saw in there was disastrous.

If she was here, she may as well try to stop them.

"Who gave her a say in this?" Tony asked.

"Under normal circumstances, I would agree but she's right...This isn't a game," Steve warned.

"The creature...!" Wanda yelled before Pietro flew by the Cradle, unplugging all the wires.

"No, no. Go on, you were saying?" Pietro crossed his arms.

Tony tapped buttons on his computer, "I'm rerouting the upload."

Steve threw his shield at him but he summoned his hand thrusters, blasting him to the floor.

They both charged for each other, ultimately knocking each other down simultaneously - Tony flying through the glass and shattering it.

Clint grabbed onto Pietro, holding him down before he could move.

"Pietro!" Wanda edges forward to help him, before being grabbed by Bruce.

"Go ahead piss me off," He said. Wanda knocked him back with a flow of her telekinesis, pushing him away.

Before anyone could do anything else, they paused to see the sudden arrival of Thor - flying in and landing on the cradle.

"Wait!" Bruce shouted.

Thor raised his hammer in the air, summoning lighting which filled the room with its bright light before pounding on the cradle with it.

Everyone stared in shock as the cradle was overloaded with power and it burst open.

Steam teamed over the edge of the container and the being inside sat up.

The creature had no hair nor clothes and its skin was a dark vermilion colour, it's entire body was covered with vibranium which was scattered around visibly in some places as plates.

The only distinct change of colour from all the red was the yellow mind stone in its head and it's bright ocean eyes.

Wanda was in awe as Strucker's creation came to life... 

════▣◎▣════

**STEPHEN STRANGE** SET down a stack of books onto his table, he had prepared himself for the spell he was about to perform.

He had heard many warnings from sorcerers alike telling him it was dangerous to meddle with things of the future but he didn't really care much.

There had been something bothering him, ever since his fight with Dormammu and his tethering to the time stone, he had felt something coming.

He needed to do the spell he had seen from the text Kaecilius stole, he remembered it clearly - his sharp memory helped with that.

"Ok..." He breathed, drawing his hand back over his other arm, controlling the Eye of Agamotto with the mystical green circles that appeared around him.

There was a loud sound of glass snapping as reflective mirrors appeared in front of him, he held his arms in place, staring up at the image on the mirrors.

He saw the face of a young woman, her face was clearly masked with an expression of distress and sadness, he could tell she was somewhere different from Earth because of the orange and yellow landscape. 

He was in confusion as he saw her disintegrate into tiny fragments of dust that floated upwards as she looked to the sky and looked sad but almost peaceful. Who was this?


	5. understand what’s at stake here

**"I'M SORRY THAT** was...odd. Thank you," The Vision turned to Thor, nodding his head at him in appreciation.

Steve Rogers looked in shock, still angry, "Thor? You helped create this?"

"I've had a vision, a whirlpool that sucks in all hope of life and at its centre," The God of Thunder directed his finger at the glowing stone in Vision's head, "Is that."

"What, the gem?" Bruce asked.

"It's the Mind Stone. It's one of the six Infinity Stones, the greatest power in the universe, unparalleled in its destructive capabilities," Thor explained.

Steve rejoined to argue again, "Then why would you bring it to-"

"Because Stark is right."

"Oh, it's definitely the end times," Bruce said, in disbelief that Thor was agreeing with him.

"The Avengers cannot defeat what's coming."

"Not alone," Vision spoke up again.

"Why does your "vision" sound like Jarvis?" Steve asked.

"We...we reconfigured Jarvis's matrix to create something new," Tony responded.

"I think I've had my fill of new," Steve commented.

Vision turned his head, "You think I'm evil?"

"You're not?"

Wanda decided to pitch in, "I looked in your head and saw annihilation."

"Look again," Vision dared.

"Yeah," Clint walked up to the group, "Her seal of approval means jack to me."

Thor added, "Her powers, his too. They came from the Mind Stone and they are nothing compared to what it can unleash. But with it on our side..."

"Is it?" Steve turned to face Vision again, "Are you? On our side?"

"I don't think it's that simple," Vision said.

"Well, it better get real simple real soon," Clint snapped.

"I am on the side of life...evil isn't."

Bruce warned, "If we're wrong about you. If you are a monster..."

"What will you do?" Vision asked, innocently before looking around at their faces - they were frightened of him, "I understand what you are, you are a team. Maybe I am a monster..."

Pietro looked at Wanda, he gave her a look which told her all she needed to know - to escape while she still could.

The Vision continued talking, "I don't think I'd know if I were one. I'm not what you are and I'm not what you intended so there may be no way to make you trust me but we're a team now and... You need to fight and not one of you can do it without the others. And I'm here to help."

Vision looked across at Thor's hammer and handed it to him, "We need to go."

"Right," Thor patted Stark on the shoulder, "Well done."

"Wait. Why do we need to go?" Bruce wondered.

"Because Miss Maximoff has escaped," Vision answered.

"Damn it," Steve uttered.

"That's not very good language, Rogers," Tony said.

"Seriously? Now?" Steve shook his head before picking up his shield, "Three minutes. Get what you need. We know she's in the area now, she can't have gone far."

════▣◎▣════

**WANDA HADN'T GOTTEN** far at all, she was still in the area, she had only run to the next street past the Avengers Tower.

She had known that they would be coming to capture her and take her to some kind of prison where her only fate would be staring into the gaps between the metal, rusty bars all day for endless days.

It didn't take long before she had given up on trying to move fast, Wanda had been running for so long she was getting tired.

She didn't know where she was or what she was going to do and was contemplating giving up...

She sat on the sidewalk, against the brick wall of a random building. The floor was cold and grainy, she felt the bottom of her dress soak from the still wet mud.

She hugged her knees and dropped her head, she was about to consider falling asleep before she saw golden wisps appear in front of her, they ran in a circle and increased slowly until they were a big glowing wheel of orange fireworks.

She looked around her and no one had noticed the obvious magic going on in front of her, she stood up and was about to start running before the portal caught up with her, swallowing her inside.

Wanda fell to the floor with a grunt, although it wasn't the chilling concrete of bustling New York City anymore.

It didn't take long for the Scarlet Witch to realise she was somewhere else as she looked down as the floor below her and noticed it was shiny and polished decorative marble.

She stood up quickly, looking around her for any signs to help her see where she was. There were tall spires and multi-windowed buildings, she was still in New York...just not anywhere near where she was before.

She was about to walk around to explore before she heard a light whoosh, her head snapped around and her eyes opened in shock as she saw the figure of a man...

His face was in the shadows, obstructing her view of his face but she could see the attire he was wearing was not particularly normal.

He had a flowing cape which cascaded around him, twirling in all directions as he levitated down the from the floor above.

It was certainly...strange but it didn't entirely bother her compared to seeing Vision's birth just mere minutes ago.

"Who are...you," Wanda almost lost her words as the stranger came into view, allowing her to see the features of his face.

He had dark brown hair, which was slicked back on his head - there were two stylised strands of white hair on either side of his hair too which she assumed was evidence for his age...or a decision to make himself look wiser.

He had clear blue eyes, that were looking directly into hers and lastly, the other distinguishing facial feature he had was his goatee.

It was the man from that she saw inside the Cradle, her mind flashed back to all the images of the death of destruction that centred around him.

He knew who she was too, he had gone out of his way to find her. He had heard of her, he couldn't count the number of times he had seen her on the news.

To him, she was a young woman with a somewhat foggy but hopeful future ahead of her. He knew that right now what she needed was help.

"My name is Doctor Stephen Strange and I have some questions for you," Stephen introduced himself.

"Questions about what?" Wanda asked, "Has someone sent you to bring me in?"

"I keep a watchlist of beings that may be a threat to this world and usually they are from other realms, but you have oddly enough...become one of those beings," Stephen walked past her, towards a spellbook which he opened, scanning through the pages, "We need to discuss your future."

"I have no future," Wanda tucked her hands into her sleeves, "I've caused enough problems."

"Take a seat," He commanded, gesturing to the seats close by.

Wanda sighed, she had no other option. She had nowhere else to go, anyway.

She walked over to the seat opposite the mysterious doctor and sat down, legs crossed. She waited for him to speak but he just sat there, staring at her as if he was waiting for the same.

Stephen found it quite amusing how nervous she was, he wasn't trying to banish her, "Tea?"

Wanda's eyebrows creased and a slight smirk came upon her lips, it was quite obvious she was confused, "No...thank you?"

"Don't like tea?"

"Coffee is more my type."

"Too much caffeine isn't good for you."

"Hmm, am I getting my own doctor now?"

"Maybe," Stephen looked her up and down, "It depends."

Wanda didn't even blink before a mug coffee was placed in her hands, she wasn't even in the mood for actually drinking it, so she placed it down on the table beside her.

"So..." Strange continued talking, "What happened?"

Wanda stared into the coffee on the table, she thought now would be the best time to take a sip.

"It must be bad," Stephen pointed out.

Wanda chuckled, "That's one word for it, here we go. It started in Sokovia, of course. I was a normal girl apart from the fact that I was an orphan and the only person I had by my side was my brother Pietro."

"Ah, the speedster."

"Yes, that's the one. We volunteered to do Strucker's experiments together. It wasn't what we thought it would be, in fact, it was terrible. However, somehow we survived. We were so glad, we could finally help our crumbling society become something great again, hopefully. But..."

"Then?"

"Then the concept of revenge on Tony Stark was too good of an idea to forget about and that was all I could think about. And, soon later Strucker died in action with the Avengers and I was even worse."

"You were angry, motivated. That's understandable."

"Doesn't excuse what happened," Wanda said, looking back into her coffee cup.

"Tell me."

"I...Natasha Romanoff died because of me. I feel..." Wanda trailed off again, "I'm still me, I think but that's not what everyone else sees."

Doctor Strange knew what she meant, he hadn't shared the exact same life experience, who could? But he understood where she was coming from.

"I was an asshole," Wanda looked up, he had caught her attention, "I was a doctor...still am a doctor, I guess. But I had an accident that changed my career and my life. For the better."

"What are you trying to say?"

"That, it gets worse. But when it does get worse it gets a whole lot better, with effort and time."

"You think that I can change?"

"I don't know, no one ever really changes, do they?" Stephen smiled, "They evolve."

"Wow," Wanda said, her face was completely blank, the story had clearly got to her.

"That was quite depressing," Stephen said, "And people used to think I was funny."

Wanda laughed, the smile on her face was bright and beautiful - he caught himself staring at it longer than he was supposed to.

Wanda even surprised herself when she burst into laughter, it had been a while since she had.

Stephen rose from his chair, "Let me help you."


	6. she’s not what everyone else sees

**A LEGION OF** robots swirled around Wanda Maximoff as she tried to keep up with them, hitting and blasting her red magic everywhere she could.

She tried to keep up with of them hurtling at her but it was very hard. Metal debris spat out of the disintegrating machines.

Wanda held one to the side as she tried to spot another one before a whole cluster of bots swerved towards her, "Ah!"

She screamed before everything around her vanished, and she was back in the lobby of the Sanctum Sanctorum.

She fell with her knees and hands on the floor, she panted heavily as she tried to catch her breath.

Stephen Strange lowered his hands as the mirror's he had created with them disappeared too, he walked towards Wanda.

"You need to work on you're energy," Stephen lectured, "You aren't using enough."

"I'm sorry, I'd like to see you try and defeat an army of robots," Wanda riposted, "I'm exhausted."

"I was the one who made those robots...and they were fake, so I think that speaks volumes."

Stephen held out a hand to her, Wanda looked at it first, she looked up at his face - still unreadable apart from his eyes, which sparkled with hope and courage.

She would have easily been able to tell what he was thinking, to read his thoughts and feel his emotions but...it was difficult. However, she also knew sooner or later every man shows himself.

"Aren't you going to get up?" Stephen asked, still holding his hand out.

"Thank you," Wanda accepted his hand, holding it and using it to help her rise to her feet, "And I'm sorry, I'm still learning."

"That's right and you still have a lot to learn before you can become a Master of the Mystic Arts," Stephen walked away from her, pacing quite quickly. 

"Mystic Arts?" Wanda asked, "Is that what..."

Wanda tried to speed up to him, following closely by as he flicked through more pages of books with runes and other ancient languages she didn't understand.

"Yes," He answered, "And I think you could have it too, you have unseen potential. If I could form a hypothesis, you haven't even reached the barest minimum of what you can do."

"What would that be?"

"Definitely dabble in levitation and maybe some more advanced telepathy induced powers... high-level reality-warping stuff but like I said, that's a prediction."

"Well," Wanda walked up closer to him, she grabbed ahold of the book he was holding. He held it tightly - irritated that she was taking it off him - before letting it go, "Teach me."

"To levitate?"

"No, you said the bigger things would take time. Teach me to make the energy bigger," Wanda requested, her Sokovian accent became more thick with excitement.

"This won't take long," Stephen took the book she was holding and placed it onto the desk, "Just focus on my words."

He walked around her so that he was up against her back, he let his head peek around her shoulder, close to her ears so she could hear him, "Is it okay if I touch you?"

Wanda nodded in response, she felt a heat rise in her stomach as she felt his body against her back.

He brought his hands to hers, spreading them open in front of her, he left them alone and ran his hands up her arms to rest on her shoulders.

"Close your eyes," He spoke into her ear, she followed his instructions, letting her eyes shut, "Open your mind...turn on your powers."

He watched as her fingers curved and the faint red swirls started to appear in her fingers, "Right, good. Now picture something bigger, try and concentrate your energy...slowly imagine it curling into a ball."

The swirls in her hands slowly came together as they build into bigger balls of lighter red energy.

"That's it," Stephen said, leaning into her ear, "Open your eyes..."

She opened them to see what she had done, a small smile formed on her lips. She closed her hands, stopping her powers from formulating any further.

"See?" Stephen moved in front of her, so he could see her face, "That didn't take long."

Wanda tucked her hair behind her ear, the jacket she was wearing over her arms fell slightly and Stephen was able to see the cut she had managed to get on her lower arm.

"You're injured."

"I-It's okay," Wanda looked at the scar, proceeding to cover it again with her jacket, "I'll live."

"I insist," He felt guilty, "I won't have you getting infected because of me."

The room changed, Wanda almost fell down because of how quickly it happened, "I'm never getting used to that."

He hoped that she would, he was getting rather fond of her company and it was nice to have someone else around other than the presence of Wong.

They were now in a small room of the Sanctum, it was just as dark and mystically decorated as the rest but instead of shelves filled with books, it was filled with oils and ointments.

"Don't worry, I won't use some random elixir on you," Strange reassured her, seeing her worried face, "We keep regular First Aid in here too...Give me your jacket."

"Aren't I supposed to see a doctor if the wound is this bad?" Wanda asked as he scrubbed lightly on her wound, managing to keep his hands steady.

"Doctor Strange isn't just a funny gimmick," Stephen rolled his eyes, "You're gonna have to help me out here though, I can't do everything."

"Some Doctor you are," Wanda laughed, he didn't respond - she was silent afterwards.

She realised she might have hurt his feelings, "I'm sorry."

"It's alright," Stephen replied, he handed her a bandage, "Wrap it up tight and get yourself cleaned up."

"Mr Strange," She said, causing him to turn around. "Thank you...for everything."

"No problem," He said, proceeding to walk out of the doorway, "I'll be in the library if you need me."

════▣◎▣════

 **"ARE YOU STILL** sure about this, Strange?" Wong was sitting across from him in the library.

He was helping him navigate through some books for things such as the Winds of Watoomb and the Images of Ikkon - spells he hadn't yet mastered.

"About studying these spells?" Stephen asked, still concentrated on the pages, his photographic memory helping him fly through them. "Positive."

"You know what I mean, about her."

"Ms Maximoff? Her training is going well, for a few days it's actually quite impressive. We've had talks about her abilities, other things she might be capable of..."

"Exactly. Do you even hear yourself? You've seen the papers, you know what she's done."

"Nothing compared to what she can do."

"You have too much faith, every day that she's here, she puts the Sanctum's position at risk."

"No one will find her," Stephen sighed, looking away from his book, knowing Wong wasn't going to leave him alone, "She's a good person, I know she is..."

Wong stacked up the books he had finished with, leaving them in a pile for Stephen, "Whatever you say, Strange. I trust that you will take responsibility if anything is to go wrong."

Wong departed from the room in a hurry, "Until next time."

"Thanks for the help, Wong," Stephen said goodbye and turned back to his books and knew that Wong had left the room when he heard the door slammed shut.

"Hey, how do I look?"

Stephen's head shot up, looking at Wanda who was wearing the baggiest sorcerer's robes he had ever seen. He broke into laughter at the sight of it.

She looked hilarious, the grey sleeves hung past her hands and the skirts went down to her ankles - partly because she hadn't tied the belt correctly at all.

"You look ridiculous," There were creases around his eyes from the size of his twinkling smile.

"I know," Wanda snickered, "It was all that I could find.

"It doesn't suit you at all, grey is not your colour."

"What would you have me wear?"

"Hmm..." Stephen pressed his lips together harshly to stop himself from saying anything, his brain's immediate response was 'nothing.'

"Red. A deep scarlet would probably look nice on you."

"Red's my favourite colour," Wanda smiled.

"Ah, lucky guess. If you want to get out of those, I have some shirts you can wear."

"No, it's okay. It's quite comfortable actually, for old man's clothes."

"Old man?" Stephen chuckled, "You think I'm old?"

"Aren't you?" She traced the sides of her head, "You are going grey."

"That's widely offensive," He stood up, finally closing the book he had been studying, "I should punish you for that."

Wanda's emotions betrayed her as she felt her heart speed up at his words, 'punish you.' Her cheeks flared with crimson, she was ashamed at the thoughts that entered her mind.

"Did I say something?" Stephen blinked innocently.

"No," Wanda replied quickly, "I'm just...tired."

"Already?" Stephen came up closer to her, standing an arm's length away, "Well, you'll need all your rest to practice levitating tomorrow."

"Won't that take a long time?"

"From what I've seen today...I trust that you're capable enough to move onto bigger things."

"You trust me?"

"I do," Stephen sparing a small smile, "Do you trust me?"

"I..." Wanda wasn't going to succumb to him so easily, "I can learn to."


	7. every man shows himself

**WIND BRUSHED PAST** the trees and shadows overlooked the pavements as the silhouette of Doctor Stephen Strange glided to the ground.

"Wow," Wanda breathed out, "You make it look so easy. Are you sure your cape isn't doing all the work?"

Stephen chuckled, "Well, the Cloak of Levitation does help me but it still requires some effort to lift myself off the ground."

One of the cloak's edges raised, shaking its head in disagreement. Wanda smirked, "Sure. Excuses, excuses."

Wanda walked closer to him from where she was standing, he had told her to stand back. Like she was a child and couldn't watch a little bit of flight up close without getting hit.

"So, how do I do this then?" Wanda asked, holding her hands out.

"Do you want me to guide your hands again?"

Last time she had gotten so heated at the touch of his fingers on her skin, she almost blushed thinking about him doing more. She bit her lip to stop a sigh from escaping.

"No," She said quickly.

"Did I make you feel uncomfortable?"

"Uh, no," It was the opposite, "I just want to try and watch and learn this time."

Stephen had to admit to himself that he was quite disappointed, was she repelled by his touch?

"That's fine," He lied, "Just push towards the ground...like this. Project your energy, as I taught you, to the floor to hoist yourself upwards. Once you are in the air you should be fine, you only need to keep projecting your energy to stay up longer. Got it?"

"I think so," Wanda pushed her hands down as instructed, "Jesus."

She cursed as she felt herself lift off the ground, she blasted her power to the floor - streams of red helped to boost her upwards as she soared high above the trees.

Strange looked to the sky as he watched her fly, he was amazed at her talent, "That's it!"

Wanda didn't wait long before she landed a few feet ahead, wobbling as she came closer to the ground.

Stephen glided off the ground, straight to her, holding her shoulders as she landed unsteadily, "Great."

"It was incredible," Wanda was beaming with happiness, "I was flying! Holy shit..."

"I know," Stephen smiled, "I saw you..."

"I didn't stick the landing very well, but I'll get better. Thanks for saving me...from falling."

"No problem, just a day in a hero's life."

Wanda looked away for a second, a hero? "Do you think I can become a hero?"

"I think you absolutely can," Stephen smiled smugly, "How did you...uh, how did you know I would catch you when you fell?"

It was at that moment she finally managed to decipher the puzzle of his mind that she had struggled for a while trying to read.

But in that second, at that exact time, his thoughts made her want to open her heart a little more to him, "I hope she trusts me as much as I trust her..."

"I trusted you," She felt a smirk rise on the inner cheek.

"Oh, really?" Stephen was getting even more smug, the smile on his lips getting wider.

"Don't make me regret saying it."

  
════▣◎▣════

 **"IN...SAIT," STEPHEN** said slowly, trailing the letters on the page with his finger, "Insight."

"In...zait," Wanda tried to copy, "The S's are still hard."

"It's an 'Sss' sound," Stephen instructed.

"Zss...damn," Wanda huffed in irritation, placing her head in her hand.

"It's okay...it's Sss," He corrected.

"Sss...Insight."

"You got it!" Stephen chuckled, "Finally!"

"Oh great," Wanda laughed with him, relieved, "Does this mean I'm American now?"

"No," He snickered, "But it does mean you can stay hidden."

"Right because my accent is too thick," Wanda tucked a hair, in her eyes behind her ear.

"And your hair has to change too," Stephen added, noticing it only after she touched it.

"What about my hair?"

"It's not your hair, per se. It's your whole look."

"I feel flattered," She said plainly, sarcasm dripping in her voice.

Stephen scratched his ear, nervously, "I didn't mean it like that."

"Relax," Wanda snickered as she tried to do an American accent, "I'm only joking."

"I knew that..." Stephen smiled, "But I'm not joking..."

Wanda nodded, her smile vanished - she knew what he was talking about, "I know. I knew what I was doing when I went on the run. But I'm not changing my hair."

"You should consider it. They're are still looking for you. I'm...worried about you. You could easily be recognised if you left the Sanctum."

Wanda felt her heart flutter, he was worried for her, "What makes you think I'm going to leave?"

"I hope you will, one day. This training isn't for nothing, you know. I said you could become a hero, you can't be a hero without helping people on the outside."

"I doubt they will want me protecting them..."

"They don't have to want it. You want people to see you differently, you make them."

He turned his head upwards and his eyes landed on hers, he hadn't taken the time to notice how enchanting they were. They were a shining blue-green, they shone in the dim light, making her look even younger than she was.

He could feel exactly what she could, he knew they had a connection - he wasn't crazy, the tension between them seemed to build every day.

He would be a liar if he didn't admit that he had thought about kissing her, how her lips would feel against his...

How her soft, bare skin would feel against his...

But, he couldn't let anything happen between them. He would feel like he was taking advantage of her, she was broken and too young.

As Wanda looked into his eyes and in a split second he was staring down at a book again, "Stephen."

"I've got to go," He cleared his throat, "I'll see you again tomorrow."

*

Stephen Strange missed his old life, he had liked helping people in hospitals. Tending to their wounds and saving lives.

He knew that he wasn't a great person back then but was it really a sin to think about it once in a while? He felt guilty, on occasion when he thought back to it and that was when his hands would start shaking again.

When all the pain and wrong came back to him, he could feel himself crumble again from the inside and suddenly he was falling off the same cliff...

Over and over...

"Never thought you'd come to see me," Christine Palmer smiled at her old friends and 'more than a friend.'

"Well, I'm full of surprises," Stephen swirled his spoon around his steaming cup of tea, "Thanks for paying by the way..."

"That's okay, I know you're low on cash considering being a..." Christine had forgotten what he called it, "Cultist."

"Master of the Mystic Arts."

"Right," She smiled again, her dimples showing.

Christine was a great woman and she meant a lot to him. He thought he at least owed her an explanation of why he had been gone for the past few months.

And if he had started to feel...whatever he was feeling with Wanda. Christine deserved to know.

"It's good to see you," Stephen dropped his spoon.

"It's good to see you too," She raised an eyebrow, "What do you want to talk about?"

"I..." Stephen ran a hand over his face, "I guess I was just wondering where we stood. In this, whatever we have."

"I don't know, Stephen, you tell me," Christine sighed, "You disappeared."

"I've been busy."

"With what? Work?"

"Yes. Trying to save the universe and...I have a student."

"A student? What is that? Some weird sex thing?"

"No!" Stephen shouted quickly, "Not at all."

"Who is she?"

"You don't know they're a she," He looked into his cup.

"I don't have too. You have clearly moved on, Stephen. I can see that you're better. I don't mind if you are seeing someone new."

"Thank you," He took ahold of her hand and squeezed it, "I still care about you, Christine."

"Me too, we're friends. I'll be here whenever you need me," Christine reassured him, then switched to a cheeky smirk, "So...tell me about your student."

Stephen laughed, "I won't tell you her name but I can say a few things."

"Oh come on!" Christine whined, "I won't try and stalk her or anything."

"Beggars can't be choosers."


	8. if you step out of that door...

**WANDA WOKE UP** in shock, she shot up from the bed as she heard the sound of a loud clang.

"Ms Maximoff," Stephen yelled, standing over her and banging a mallet against a metal gong, "Wake up!"

A slew of Sokovian curse words ran out of her mouth before she got out of bed, dragging her feet from under the covers.

"Is that Sokovian?" Stephen asked, "And are you cussing?"

"What if I am?" Wanda smirked, "I'm not a child, Strange. I'm old enough to use bad language."

She wanted him to stop treating her like a baby, she was young but she was old enough to know what she wanted, what she had done and what she needed to do to improve.

"Of course. I know that." The gong and mallet disappeared, being teleported away in his hands.

"Why have you woken me up so early?" Wanda groaned, stretching.

"I wanted to get an early start today, we have a lot to do," Stephen looked over to the table at her bedside, making a cup of coffee appear, "Small sugar, no milk. Just how you like it."

"Sometimes I think you're the one that can read minds."

"I can."

Wanda almost choked on her drink as she spat into her cup, "You can?"

Wanda's cheeks turned red, she had thought some pretty explicit things about him and was terrified he had managed to hear them at the wrong moments.

"Don't worry, I haven't fully grasped it. I've only learned how to get little bits of thoughts here and there."

Wanda sighed in relief, "If you had grasped it, would you read any of my thoughts?"

"No, not really. I have read that you're determined to succeed but nothing else. I wouldn't want to invade your privacy or make you uncomfortable like that by listening to personal things."

"Great. I would probably kill you if you tried," She said jokingly.

"Would you?"

"Kill you? I don't know, it depends," She smiled, "I'm still making my mind up about you."

"No, not that. Would you read my thoughts?"

"I have...once. But it only told me that you trust me to change, which you already told me to my face."

Stephen was happy she had shown him the same courtesy of not reading his mind twenty-four, seven. But now he was curious, was she serious about killing him?

"Would you seriously want to kill me?"

"No. I don't want to kill anyone."

════▣◎▣════

 **"SERIOUSLY STRANGE, IF** you don't tell me where we're going I'm leaving," Wanda adjusted the baseball cap on her head, making sure it shadowed her face which was covered with dark sunglasses over her eyes.

"Don't worry, we're almost there," Stephen said, leading her around another corner.

"You know, this is the first time I've seen you in normal clothes," Wanda looked him up and down - he wasn't in his 'Wizard' costume today.

He was wearing a casual outfit of a plain, baggy grey shirt with a long black cardigan and blue jeans.

Wanda was wearing something not too different as she had taken up his offer to wear his old shirt as they were going out in public.

"I wasn't always a sorcerer, I'm a person, just like you."

"I know that but it's still weird," Wanda thrust her hands into back pockets, "You said you had an accident...do you mind if I ask what happened?"

"No, it's okay," His tone made it sound like it wasn't but he continued anyway, "I was driving recklessly, wasn't concentrating and I crashed into a cliff. Both my hands suffer severe nerve damage."

"Your hands are injured?"

"They shake," Stephen explained, "A lot. It's better than it was during the early days but they don't work well enough to ever become a neurosurgeon again."

"I'm sorry, that must have been hard for you. Becoming a doctor was your dream right? Must have been hard to throw all of that away."

"Yeah, it was. But it was only the beginning of my life, not the end. Besides, being a doctor isn't my dream - helping people is."

"That's inspiring," Wanda looked around the roads, nervous that people could notice her as they walked along a crossing, "So enough distractions...where are we going?"

"No need to ask," Stephen halted, "We're here."

The two stood in front of a shop, it wasn't brand new or anything fancy. It had clearly been there for years, maybe even decades. Its outside paint was peeling with age and its sign was losing more than a few letters.

It was an old fashioned dressmakers store.

"A friend offered to help me," Stephen explained, "I explained I knew someone special who needed a suit and she told me she knew someone who owned a tailor shop."

"Are you sure they're even open still?"

"Of course they are," Stephen said, "Just come on, trust me."

"I thought I told you that you had to earn that."

"Well, hopefully, I will."

"Telling someone about me minuses a few points."

"I didn't tell them your name."

"Still, I'm cautious," Wanda sashayed in front of him, opening the door, "After you."

"You're driving me crazy, Maximoff," Stephen tutted.

"Good," The edge of her lips curved as she entered the shop with the chime of the bell on the door.

The inside of the small shop was cleaner than the outside, to Wanda's relief. It was messy though.

Mismatched flamboyant colours of different sized and shapes of clothes. They were scattered of rails, tabletops and even on the floor.

“Why do you think I need a suit?” Wanda asked.

“Well, when you leave...to fight crime. You’ll need a suit to do it.”

“You want me to leave then?”

“No. Well...yes, but it’s not that I don’t enjoy your company-“

"Hello!" A voice came from a distance, "We're in the back..."

"Oh, that must be them," Christine's voice chirped in the background.

“What were you saying?” Wanda turned to Stephen as they got interrupted in their previous conversation.

“Oh, um. Nothing. We’ll talk later.”

“Ok, well...I enjoy your company too,” Wanda squeezed his arm, before walking towards the back.

Stephen and Wanda walked over piles of dresses to reach the door leading the back of the shop, the working studio. Pieces of red cloth were laid out on the table, some of it still under the sewing machine.

The women pressing on the pedal stopped as she saw their faces appear in the doorway, "Ah! You must be Doctor Strange and..."

She had bright orange hair, similar to Natasha Romanoff's but quite lighter.

However it was in much bigger frizzy waves, she had warm brown eyes and her makeup was done in vibrant colours, almost matching the wild multicoloured nature of her shop.

It was also clear she had made all of her clothes by herself, they were in tiger colours of bright orange and black.

"Scarlett," Wanda introduced herself as someone else, "Nice to meet you."

Stephen almost laughed as she tried to hide her accent with a terrible American one. She was doing it so thick, it sounded like she was a Valley girl or something.

"Nice to meet you too, Scarlett," She shook both her and Strange's hands, "I'm Greer Grant Nelson."

"I like your hair colour," Wanda said, "I'm thinking about getting mine changed."

"Oh really? A bright red would suit you quite nicely," Greer suggested.

"Really?" Stephen asked, his mouth open in fake shock. He distinctly remembered Wanda protesting against changing her hair colour.

"Shut up," Wanda snapped, "Don't make me hit an elderly person."

"Ouch."

"Though, I'm not really sure because your face is hidden under those glasses," Greer pointed out.

"Right, sorry. It's sunny outside," Wanda defended herself.

Wanda was scared that Christine or Greer might recognise her, she slowly peeled off her shades. No one said anything as she did so she knew it was okay before quickly taking off her hat.

"Hi, I'm Christine Palmer. I've heard a lot about you, Scarlett," Wanda held her hand out for a shake but was surprised as she embraced her, she whispered into her ear, "Thank you for taking care of Stephen."

"It's been a pleasure, but he's been taking care of me a lot more."

"I doubt it."

"Thank you for this."

"Oh, no need to thank me. Anything for a friend."

A friend? Wanda felt her cheeks rise, she hadn't had many friends at the moment.

"Okay, Scarlett, I'll just need you ready to try on the costume. I got most of the measurements from this," Greer picked up the red jacket Stephen had given her, "But the corset might be a bit tight because I wasn't sure of your waist."

"I'm sure it will be fine, you seem very skilled."

"Aww, you're sweet. Follow me," Greer led Wanda further into the back.

Christine slid next to Stephen, bumping his arm with her elbow, "You didn't tell me she was so pretty."

Stephen rolled his eyes, trying to play it cool but his gaze was all over the place and he was even blushing, "I hadn't noticed."

"Lies," Christine laughed, "You've got a thing for her, Strange. I can see it."

"I don't know," Stephen shrugged, "Even if I did have these so called feelings for her. She's far younger than me. She doesn't want me."

"I think she does," Christine looked up at his eyes, "Your good at taking risks. Take this one. Unless she's a minor, then you probably shouldn't."

Stephen laughed, "She's not."

Greer walked back out of the changing rooms area, a smile on her face, "It looks great! Come out, Scar!"

There was a light clacking of heels as Wanda Maximoff also known as Scarlett, emerged into view.

She was wearing a coincidentally mostly scarlet outfit, it was a long fitted leather jacket that went down to knees. The red theme was matched with the corset and fingerless gloves, the only non-red pieces of clothing were her black leather pants and high-heeled boots.

"How do I look?" Wanda asked, giving them a little twirl.

He didn't even care about the outfit, the way it complimented hugged against her curves and fitted her nicely didn't change anything...

It was the way she looked him his eyes, smiling proudly as she gushed over the suit - knowing she was halfway to becoming the superhero she was meant to be.

It was enough for him to notice that she was pretty...she was beautiful.

"Strange!" Wanda shouted, snapping him back into reality, "I asked you how I looked!"

"Oh, I'm sorry..." Stephen had been staring at her, "You look amazing."

He was ready to take a risk with her.


	9. you are an avenger

**IT WAS ANOTHER** library day, Stephen's head was down as always, concentrating on the intricate words detailing his newest spell or illusion.

The stench of the younger Maximoff's coffee wafted into the air, as she flipped through the pages of a book entitled, 'A History of Mystical Arts.'

Wanda had decided to come with him that day, he had constantly reminded her that she was welcome to study with him.

However, she wasn't as clever as Stephen or as good at remembering the details that she needed to read actually spellbooks. Most of them were in ancient runes or Sanskrit.

"Interesting enough for you?" Stephen chuckled a little as he watched Wanda's eyes narrow with boredom and her head collapse into her hand.

"Um...it's new," Wanda mumbled, sitting up and flicking through the pages more attentively, "It's very interesting actually."

"Don't lie to yourself, even I think that book is boring," Stephen admitted, "I don't really concern myself with the backstory. I'm more of a jump in head first kind of guy."

"Really?" Wanda took another sip of coffee, "I wouldn't have guessed."

"Why? I am," Stephen said, defensively.

"Eh, no."

"I am," Stephen argued for himself, "I have done many things in the spur of the moment."

"I still don't believe it. You're way too uptight," Wanda laughed as when eyebrows when into an arch.

"I..." Stephen sighed, "Wanda."

"Stephen," She replied playfully.

There was nothing else to say for a few moments, it felt awkward as they both had something that they wanted to say but were hiding from the other.

The quietude scraped the air like a knife as the anticipation of waiting for a word to escape someone's mouth stirred inside them.

Wanda was the first to snap, "What is it?"

"There's...it's nothing," Stephen said, bashfully.

"Are you going to make me read your mind?"

"You wouldn't," Stephen smirked.

"Try me," Wanda communicated to him telepathically.

"Fuck you, Maximoff," He said, aloud.

"Really?" Wanda raised an eyebrow playfully, "I wouldn't mind..."

Stephen chuckled, absentmindedly, not paying attention to the context of what she said.

She gave him a few moments, staring at him blankly so he could register, "Oh. Jesus. That's...were you..." He blushed a little, "Are you serious?"

"It was a joke," Wanda laughed again, "And that's what I mean by uptight."

"That's not fair..."

"Well, you're not proving me wrong."

"Strange!" Wong entered the room, bursting through the doors in a hurry, "There's a minor threat."

"Well, if it's a minor threat, why are we dealing with it?" Stephen asked, shutting the hefty book with a thud.

"Because of where it is."

Stephen rose from his chair immediately, his cape flew over to him, obedient as usual, "Where is it?"

Wong sneaked a look at Wanda before answering, "Sokovia."

"I'm coming," Wanda rose from the behind the table too, "I'm ready."

"You haven't completed your training, it's not safe," Stephen said.

"Well, neither did you, if I recall correctly," Wong added.

"That settles it, we're all going," Wanda protested, "I can handle myself."

════▣◎▣════

 **WANDA HADN'T SEEN** her home country since that faithful day. It was all she could remember about it, the murky fog further reminded her of the paraders the day the Avengers first paid a visit.

And, the tall building with caution tape stuck haphazardly around the perimeter of its walls reminded her of what she had done.

As she looked up at the empty window, where glass should have been - she felt guilty. She knew Natasha's death was her fault, she'd be crazy not to.

"Hey," Stephen placed a hand on her shoulder, she turned her head in shock before realising who it was, "Easy...are you sure you're okay with this?"

"I'm fine, it's just..." Wanda pointed to the building, "Memories. But it's okay."

"We don't have time to babysit," Doctor Strange smiled, knowing that would make her laugh.

"Stop it," Wanda pushed him on the shoulder, "I'm not a baby."

"I know, whiny-pants," Stephen joked again before becoming more solemn, "Now, in all seriousness. It doesn't matter who you were or what you did."

"It was my fault though-"

"It's your fault? It's everyone's fault, who cares? Are you up for this?"

"I was..."

"Look, this was your choice. You might have felt like you had something to defend or someone you have to make this up to. But you're here now. There are people here trying to destroy this place. I don't care who you were thinking before but now, you have chosen to step up. So do it, Maximoff."

Stephen took his hand off her shoulder, "We've located the target near the train station, meet us there when you're ready."  
  


*

Wong and Stephen stayed hidden, gunfire hitting the surface of the car they had tucked behind.

"There's fire, from all sides. He's got some kind of...mega gun," Wong said, hearing more sounds of ricochet.

"Yes, we're going to come in from the sides. Immediately conjure any kind of shield. Once we're close enough I'll try and knock him down."

"Ok, what about Wanda?" Wong asked.

A tinge of jealousy hit Stephen, she got to be called by her first name?

"Ms Maximoff is being stubborn, she'll come to her senses soon."

"Ms Maximoff? Don't you think you are at least past referring to her on such a formal basis?"

"What are you on about, Beyoncé?"

"Not an insult, Beyoncé is a queen and...I see how you look at her, Strange. You like her."

Stephen paused, "You don't know what you're talking about."

Wong rolled his eyes, "Stop denying it. You're getting old. I don't think you have the time to be lying to yourself or her."

"Come on, Wong. We're wasting time here," Strange said, noticing the sounds had died down, "Besides we still haven't located Rumlow."

"Listen...There's no more gunfire," Wong pointed out, poking his head around the car to see that the man that had been there before had gone, broken in windows and a few injured police were on the ground.

There was a faint thudding sound above them, coming from the roof of the vehicle they had hidden behind.

The man was standing on the car, looking over them.

Ready to fire.

Stephen spread his arms out above him, conjuring a Ruby Ring of Raggadorr over their heads. The magic shield blocked the gunshot the man had sent towards their heads.

Wong ran to the inside of the station where the commotion was, heading to help anyone injured while Strange kept up with the accomplice.

Stephen's hands lit up with an auroral colour of red-yellow as threw the Sacred Sword of Vishanti towards his face.

"Who the hell are you?" He asked as he dodged with a simple turn to the side, he swung at Stephen's legs with a punch, which Stephen proceeded to block with another red ring.

"You don't need to know," Stephen grunted as he tied him up, the glowing bands of Cyttorak wrapped tightly around his body and he threw him into the wall - where he collapsed as he fell unconscious.

Inside the main station, the sounds of trains were lost as the only commotion was the screams of people trying to flee the scene.

Wong approached a middle-aged woman, the wind blew her light hair into eyes as she clutched onto a small child who wrapped onto her waist tightly.

"Miss, are you okay?" Wong asked and she nodded, still frightful.

"Y-Yes," She responded, he hadn't expected her to speak English, "Thank you."

"What's happened here?"

"We were on the train," She looked down to her son, holding onto him tighter as if he were going to escape. "That's when he came, he tore the train in half. We almost died!"

"Where's the train now?" Wong looked at the empty tracks.

"It stopped somewhere between the West and East Terminal."

"What does it look like?"

"Exactly like this, except there's a broken train dumped right in the middle," She answered his last question before hurrying away.

Wong pointed out his fingers, circling them while harnessing the power of his sling ring that opened a swirling orange firework, showing passage to the East Terminal.

"Wait!"

Wong turned to see the Scarlet Witch, her hands dimmed out of their red glow as she landed in front of him.

"Wanda?" Wong asked, "Where have you been?"

"I've heard talk about the train, it's been knocked off course! It's heading straight into another train-"

"We need to go," Wong gestured towards the portal, walking into the other station.

The young apprentice and the well-trained mystical wizard followed each other side by side as they looked around apprehensively.

Now, this was a disaster.

There was half of the train lying lifeless on the rusty tracks, it's other half had torn off of its middle, majority of it had gone.

"That's a lot of people still on the train," Wong stated, "We've got to stop it."

A swirl of orange sparks came up behind them, Doctor Stephen Strange appeared, "I managed to take down some more of Crossbones's legions but they're still heading into the main city."

"We have got a situation of our own here too," Wong huffed, "There's a train running loose on the tracks."

"Maxim..." He turned to face the woman, "Wanda. Can you do this?"

She took a deep breath before nodding slowly, "I've got it."

Wanda pushed her hands down to the floor as her red beams shot her into the sky, she flew above the train station and looked into the distance - trying to spot the train.

She flew across the tracks following along the path at a hasty speed, zooming through the airspace of Sokovia.

She had to soar over most of the land before she found where the train was heading.

It was going in the opposite direction of where it was supposed to and she spotted in the distance the other train was coming towards it.

Wanda's eyes shone with a bright red as she flew even faster.

As she reached the hood of the train, she sent a ball of energy towards it, bursting the metal off to make a hole as she landed inside the runaway train with a thud.

Inside she saw who Strange and Wong had been looking for, it was as clear as day.

His face was hidden behind a metal skull mask. His body was covered with heavy artillery and bulletproof protective armour.

Wanda looked to see the creepy skeletal figure of Crossbones in front of her.

The black pieces he was wearing were painted with streaks of white, as well as a white cross smeared onto his chest. Every detail in his costume alluded to the fact that his name was Crossbones.

"What the hell have you done here?" Wanda asked firmly.

"Wanda Maximoff," Crossbones growled, "What are you doing here?"

Wanda has crossed paths with Crossbones on more than one occasion. She had run into him during most of her excursions in her vigilante days.

He had offered her a lot of things but she hadn't wanted to do any of the things that came with them...

"Doesn't matter, you shouldn't have come here," Wanda hurried to a woman, hanging onto the edge of the train.

Everyone else had hug on tightly, apart from herself and Rumlow. She was screaming her lungs out as her hands scrambled for what she could hold amidst the debris.

Wanda encased her body in her powers, lifting her up safely, "Hold on."

"You can't save them," Crossbones growled.

"Watch me," Wanda grabbed a hold of the skeletal creature, throwing him out the hole with a twist of her arms.

There were a few cheers as he landed far into the distance, around the marshy lands near the railway.

"Now, I'm gonna have to stop this train," Wanda pulled her hands back as she generated red streaks, they wrapped around the train's wheels, "God..."

She let out a heavy grunt of effort as she brought the train to a stop, along with an ear-shattering screech.

Wanda then extended her arms outwards, pushing all her strength into projecting her power forwards.

The train started moving the opposite direction, the carriage rocked back and Wanda lost her footing as she tumbled off the train.

She screamed as she rolled over the side, her hip scratched against the heavy metal bars, sharp and jagged from the damage. She held onto the bar tightly as the train advanced forward.

Wanda got anxious as they neared the station, there wouldn't be anyone to stop it from crashing into the walls.

"Fuck," She cursed as they headed into the perimeter  
of Sokovia's station.

There were screams, a couple high pitched wails and a few low shouts. They all outweighed her own voice as she closed her eyes tightly, waiting for an impact.

Chug, chug, chug...

A loud whoosh was heard before everything stopped and the train came to a halt.

Wanda almost fell, before she felt familiar hands helping her steady herself. It took her a few moments to realise that the train had stopped, that everyone around her was running out as fast as they could and now that they had been saved.

"I..." Wanda clutched onto her hip, which was still bleeding slightly.

"Jesus Christ, you could have been killed..." Stephen scolded, "I knew this was a bad idea. I told you-"

"I'm fine," She insisted, "Stop caring so much."

"I won't," Stephen said sternly, but as Wanda looked into his eyes, she knew they were saying something different.

Her eyes fluttered, wanting to close them, to lean in. They both waited, stared into each other's eyes as they wondered who would break first.

He would.

He took ahold of her cheek, holding it softly in his palm as he gently pulled her face into his. Their eyes closed steadily as their lips came within reach.

A soft moan left her lips as she kissed him back, with brimming fervour. The moment their lips first touched was tantalising, all she cared about was the feeling of him with her.

All she noticed was how good his lips tasted against hers.

She didn't even care about the way his beard brushed on her face, almost scratching her as she forced herself further into him.

Stephen couldn't believe this was happening, he had fantasised about what it would be to kiss her for so long but it didn't compare to how right it felt as he held her hips tightly, pulling her closer into him.

He deepened the kiss, making it rougher, his eyes shut firmly, as the only reason for separation was to gather more air to claim each other's lips once more.

It felt like coming back to Earth as they ended their passionate kiss. Wanda's hands were attached to the collar of his navy tunic as she rested her head on his chest, breathing excessively.

"I...forgot to tell you..." Stephen was also left panting as he hugged her head close to his, "Don't interrupt me."

"Strange," Wanda giggled, "You're a stubborn bastard."


	10. ‘cause when you unfold me

**  
"HEY," STEPHEN LOOKED** over at Wanda, who was standing by the window, looking over the sitting while drinking a cup full of _something_ hot...which he assumed to be coffee, per usual.

Her hair was let down lazily, she had on one of his shirts again, a long one this time worn with baggy jeans. He was also wearing lazy clothes that day, his regular t-shirt, cardigan, trousers get up.

"Good morning," Wanda smiled, placing her cup down so she could hug his neck with her arms, "Yesterday was crazy...it's lucky you saved me."

"It was," Stephen slid his hands down to her hips, drawing circles at her injury, caressing it gently, "You could have been badly injured."

Her heart felt fuzzy as he said that, he was constantly telling her he cared for her, "How did you know to come and help me?"

"I was stopping the other train," Stephen explained, "I knew that you were going to save them in the run-away carriage but I also anticipated they would impact."

"Right," Wanda sniffed, "I almost killed them."

" _However_ , you helped to save them too. You did excellently."

"Thank you, so did you," Wanda leaned her head in, making her nose touch his, "I like this."

The tickle of his beard on her hands, the feeling of his warm cotton-shirt on hers, even the slightly itchy scratch she got from hugging his long woolly jumper.

He also shared the same feelings, he felt safe with the warmth of her hugging him.

He even liked the lingering smell of coffee that stayed on his lips when she kissed him for the second time.

"I like this too," Stephen smiled, holding her head close to his chest as they stood, embracing each other.

"I don't know what happened to Rumlow," Wanda disturbed the silence, "I threw him out of the train but..."

"It's alright," Stephen assured her, "With _Rumlow_?"

"Yes," Wanda clarified, "Brock Rumlow."

"I know, but how do you know that?" Stephen asked, pushing her hips away slightly so he could face her, "I didn't tell you."

"We _may_ have had a past," Wanda looked to the floor before staring up at his face again, "But it's nothing I cared about."

"Really?" She noticed the lines of jealousy drawn on his face.

"Yes, really," Wanda leaned in once again, "You're the only person I want right now."

Stephen refrained from kissing her once again, "You want me, Maximoff?"

"At the moment, more than anything," Wanda admitted, her mind was already rushing with explicit images imagining them in bed together - that way.

"Well," Stephen lowered his voice, "I've never been one to deny a woman her needs."

"Of course, this is only part of my treatment," Wanda said, putting on a tone of faux sternness, "What kind of patient would I be if I didn't listen to my doctor?"

Stephen laughed, his one dimple poked in his face as he showed off his brilliant smile, "Exactly..."

A cough came from the doorway, as Wong stood there, a look of annoyance on his face, "Strange, you promised we were going for ice cream."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I got...distracted," Stephen said, scratching the bottom of his chin.

"Well," Wong looked from Wanda to Stephen, "Don't get too distracted, I'm in the mood for a Raspberry Thorbet."

════▣◎▣════

 **WONG, STEPHEN STRANGE** and Wanda Maximoff sat on high chairs around the tabletop, in a Ben and Jerry's shop.

Wanda was worried as always that someone would recognise her, Strange reassured her the hat and glasses look worked but she was still on edge.

"Are you sure?" Wanda asked, still leaving her ice cream untouched, "I feel like people are looking at me."

"It's nothing," Stephen said, "They are probably just looking because you're gorgeous." 

Wanda smiled, lowering her head bashfully, even though her cheeks were red with flattery, she hated letting herself get like this around him.

It sometimes reminded her that she was young, maybe even too young for him- that she had vulnerability around him.

And, that was something she had to accept because it was true. Stephen found her adorable when she blushed, he didn't notice that he hadn't yet fought the urge to treat her like a child.

"You should eat your ice cream," Stephen instructed, "It's gonna melt."

"Yeah," Wanda brought her spoon to her mouth, filled with a lump of cream, tasting some of it, "It's a little chalky."

"You got Stark Raving Hazelnuts, right?" Wong asked her.

"Yes," Wanda took another spool full.

"Ew...That's one of the worst ones, we like Hunka-Hulka Burning Fudge the most," Wong said, scooping up more of his flavour - dedicated to Thor.

"Oh, I'm not the biggest fan of chocolate. It was either this or a Hawkeye Pecan Pie."

"You know, it's funny you mention the Avengers," Stephen took a breath, "We still need to have a discussion about what you're going to do when you've completed your training."

"You've brought it up before," Wanda looked down to her food, "A couple of times, maybe..."

Wong gave him a look, it was a look of danger - warning him to stop, which he didn't catch.

"After you've done with your training I hope that you would leave and join the-"

What was he talking about? Join the same people who were trying to kill her right now? Forcing her own brother against her? Did he think he could just push her anywhere he wanted?

Wanda's brain suddenly flooded with the previous fears of being controlled by him, causing her to snap, "I'll leave I'm ready!"

" _Okay_ ," Stephen replied, apologetically, "I'm sorry, I didn't think I did anything."

"Well...you did," Wanda scowled

"Are you sure?" Stephen tried to ask before Wanda arose from the table.

"I'll be in the restroom," She said, walking off.

Wong turned to him, "What was that, Strange?"

"I don't know," Stephen sighed, genuinely confused and offended, "I didn't realise she cared so much."

"She does, how many times is it going to take you to realise that? You've basically just highlighted the fact that you want her gone!"

"Shit..." Stephen palmed his face in his hand.

"How do you think that makes her feel?"

"I feel like a total dick. I should go get her."

"In the ladies room?" Wong grabbed his arm, "Just take your ice cream for the go and get the tab. We'll meet you at the Sanctum, she probably just needs some space."

*

The door to the lobby of the eccentric Sanctum Sanctorum swung open with a gust of wind and rain.

A tired Wanda Maximoff and a slightly distraught Wong walked in together, water-soaked the floor as they stepped in.

"You guys okay?" Stephen asked, partly trying to fix his previous words, "You're soaking..."

"It's pouring like hell out there," Wong said.

"We can sit by the chairs, I can magic us up some tea?" Stephen offered.

"I drink coffee, remember?" Wanda told him, she still sounded pissed as she walked by him, "And I smell like rainwater, I'm gonna go take a shower."

"Wanda!" Stephen called after her.

"Stephen..." She replied patronisingly as she continued walking.

Wanda had been trying to push down the thoughts of Stephen she had been having all day, since the morning. Since he had promised to satisfy her needs.

Not only because of that, but he had also pissed her off earlier today when he'd gone all control-man on her. To be honest, it wasn't a big deal but she had let it get to her head too quickly and she was secretly regretting getting mad at him deeply...

Wanda was overflowing with desire, it had taken some time but the sexual tension between them had grown dramatically and was on the edge of erupting.

It needed to erupt. She couldn't wait any longer, he had promised to fulfil her needs and to do it today so she wanted it done.

She made sure to shower for a long time, she knew that he would be waiting for her to come out and she wouldn't let him.

Stephen _was_ waiting, he waited a long-lasting hour for her to walk out the bathroom, he pretended to be busy- to occupy himself with the most mundane of things, like dusting.

He'd messed everything up between them. He'd waited for too long to activate something that she had lost interest.

He was exhausted, his head was pounding with thoughts and he was sweating so much that it was unsanitary. He needed a shower now too.

*

"Did you finish all the hot water?" Stephen asked, in a huff, as he pushed open the door to Wanda's room.

Wanda slowly looked up at him from her book, which she threw aside as soon as he spoke. It was like he had been listening to her thoughts, she wanted him and there he was.

Stephen Strange had walked in topless, his chest was panting with air and shining with the light on his torso.

He had a towel wrapped around his waist and was holding one in his hands too, which somehow increased the appeal.

His skin was still glistening with water from his failed attempt at a shower, the water had been freezing cold.

"You know we can't afford it," Stephen said roughly.

"I'm sorry..." Wanda stood up, she moved towards him, "It was only a desperate cry for you to fuck me."

Stephen was a bit surprised when he walked in, Wanda had only finished her shower moments ago, he knew this because her hair fell down as strands, and she was still wrapped in a towel.

Her skin was also shining with water from her shower, and he thought she looked alluring with a natural face. 

She pulled his towel off his shoulder, he watched her as she did it, her normally bright green eyes were dark with lust.

It was slow and seductive, her face was lit with mischief as she brought her hands to his neck, pulling his face into hers.

He drew back slightly, "Are you serious right now?"

She nodded, "Hundred per cent."

"It's not gonna...ruin you or anything, right?" Stephen looked down at her chest, "You're not a virgin, are you?"

"No. Are you?" Wanda had a well-known smirk on her face.

"Do I seem like a virgin to you, Maximoff?" He chuckled, the laughter lines on his face spread to the edge of his cheeks.

They both knew the answer.

"Well, I've had sex enough times to know what I want," She pulled him for another kiss.

"What's that?"

"First of all, I don't want you to be as in control...I don't want you to be _the teacher_ ," Wanda glanced over to the bed, "And second of all...I want it now."

"Um..." All words were caught in Stephen's throat.

"Is that okay with you, Doctor?"

He nodded and she gripped the back of his head, her nails tugging the small tufts as she pulls him in and kisses him, "I want your fingers inside of me, I want _you_..."

"Wanda..." He groaned against her lips as she struggled to pull him in closer.

They kept their lips attached, engaged in a rough and consuming affair as they roamed hands around each other's bodies.

Wanda gripped his ass tightly, clutching him to her and trying to close any space for air, wanting full skin-to-skin contact, "Wanda."

Stephen stirred again, " _Wanda_..."

It took a while before she could register it as an inquiry rather than a lamentation for her, "What is it?" It came out harsher than she expected and he could tell she was frustrated.

"I..." He looked down to his feet, "I can't use my hands on you."

"I thought..." Wanda stared at his hands, he brought them up from his sides, showing that they were visibly shaking.

He cowered his head in shame, his cheeks were pink and his Adam's Apple bobbed in his throat as tears pricked his eyes, "No. I haven't done anything since the accident and...I don't know if I can."

“Look at me,” Wanda felt her heart shatter as she lifted his head. She took ahold of his hands and kissed them gently, "I don't care...just do whatever makes you comfortable. As long as your doing it with me."

Stephen held onto her waist, gently cupping it, not wanting to overstep. He was used to being dominant but he wanted to give her whatever she wanted and for her to get anything she wanted from him.

She looked up at his eyes, equally as excited as hers, it turned her on how ready he was.

"Take off your clothes and get on the bed," She ordered, untying the clothing around her body before lying down first, waiting for Stephen, "Don't waste time."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Stephen lowered his head and started layering sloppy kisses on her torso, finally giving her what she needed.

There was a halt in her breath as he latched his mouth onto her breasts, sucking at her nipples.

"Yes," Her body was throbbing with pleasure at his mouth finally on her skin, she grasped his head as he trailed his tongue down her bare stomach.

"Don't you dare tease, Strange," She scowled.

He smiled against her, glad he had gotten her riled up before he placed his mouth on her. Her legs opened wide and wrapped around the back of his neck.

He pressed down harshly on her clit and she whimpered, " _Fuck_..."

He had barely touched her. Stephen kept on going, dipping his tongue inside her, sliding it against her. _Again_...and again. Once more and she let out a loud moan, "Stephen!"

She was a moaning mess soon enough, she was going wild at the euphoric exertions his mouth was performing on her.

Her hands clutched at the sheets beneath them as she felt her release, there was another flick of his tongue and she pressed a finger to her clit before it rushed into her body, "Shit, _Stephen_...I'm gonna come!"

Stephen looked up at her face, it was slick with sweat and her already wet hair had stuck to it. Her mouth was wide open as she let out a slew of rapid words in Sokovian, most of which he guessed was swearing. Her legs bucked against his mouth as she came, reaching the end of her orgasm.

"I could see you like that forever," Stephen said, knowing he would - even his photographic memory didn't need to be active to have it imprinted in his mind always.

"That was amazing," Wanda beamed at him, pulling him in for a hasty kiss, it was needy and lacked all sense of tactfulness.

She raised a hand and with a flick of her fingers, she entrapped him in red, using it to flip them over, so she was on top.

She felt a smile appear on her cheeks as she looked down at his growing erection, "No more waiting."

She used another hint of red, digging into the small white shopping bag in the corner of her room. Inside was a box of condoms, which she got a packet from.

"You went shopping with Wong and got that?" He asked, surprised she would do such a thing.

She nodded, "Yes, I pretended to need more bandages for my hip."

" _Oh_ , that's..." Stephen's words were almost lost as she touched him, sliding the condom on, "Sneaky."

"Be quiet now," Wanda pushed him down onto his back with a kiss, "I've been wanting to fuck you all day."

"I've been wanting to fuck you all week," He grunts as she sunk into him, he threw his head back onto the pillow at the instantaneous pressure of her walls around him, " _God_."

She shifted her hips, digging herself further inside him, she glanced down at him - his eyes were closed, satisfactory sex written on every inch of his face as she continued to buck her hips into his length.

" _Wanda_ ," Stephen moaned, his fingers gripped against the soft flesh of her thighs, lightly digging to her skin.

"Careful..." She called out his name as she felt the light touch of his fingers against her clit, he didn't have enough proficiency in his hands to go too fast but it still left her gasping as he circled it slowly.

"Yes, yes! Shit..." She grinds down on him faster and rougher as she became more desperate for release, almost bouncing as she dragged her nails across his chest.

" _Fuck_...Maximoff!" He wailed in a mix of pain and pleasure, his eyes went to the back of his head and he closed them, seeing stars, "Shit..."

Stephen's shoulders tensed and she felt him shake underneath her, his mouth fell open and his eyes squeezed shut as she felt him come, "Wanda..."

That was all it took for her reach her peak, she felt a slow heat build up inside her stomach, her back arched as she moaned loudly, louder and louder as her orgasm took over her body - she came onto him as her body was finally alleviated, "Stephen!"

Wanda felt on top of him, limply, Stephen pulled her into a gentle hug and she submitted to it, even thought they were both sweaty.

She glanced up into his eyes, blush crept up into her cheeks as he looked back and she felt his lips kiss the top of her forehead.


	11. we never lose our demons

**"HOW WAS I?"** Stephen embraced Wanda's waist from behind as he tucked his head into her shoulder, "Last night, I mean."

They were outside, in the Sanctum's training compound. Wanda had just completed the 'Robot Training Sequence' and they were getting carried away with talking to each other...

"You were..." Wanda twisted herself around to face him, "Excellent. Weren't the sounds I was making enough confirmation?"

Stephen smiled as he pictured her face again, not a single flaw in the image of his mind, "Yes, actually. And you were pretty excellent too."

"Don't worry," Wanda hugged him firmly, "Next time I'll take care of you properly."

Next time? Stephen almost felt his heart stop in his chest, there would be a next time.

"Do you think..." Wanda turned to the door cautiously before facing him again, "Do you think Wong heard us?"

"I hope not," Stephen chuckled, "But you were quite loud."

Wanda slid her hands to his lower back, gripping his ass lightly, "I couldn't help myself..."

"Wanda?" Stephen's voice was less playful, she unlatched from his lower body as soon as she heard it. She placed her hands around his waist, stepping back so she could see him.

His face was serious, she knew the topic would be something she didn't like. Probably the same one as yesterday so she kept her distance, not touching him.

"Yes, Stephen," She sighed.

"We do need to talk about what you're going to do after you've completed training."

"I almost have, haven't I? I think it's going well."

"It is, it's incredible how much you've been able to learn but..."

"But what? You want me gone?" Wanda was angry now, her eyes sparked red as she spoke, "Is this all this is for you? Just a fucking experiment, Stephen!

"No, I just want you to keep your options for the future open."

"Okay, tell me! Where am I gonna go?" She was calmer now, she caught her breath from the shouting as she steadied herself, "Tell me."

"To join..." Stephen took a breath before facing her again, "Hopefully, the Avengers."

Wanda felt her blood boiling in her veins, "Those people?"

"Your brother is there."

"Yes, the only reason he is there is to get away from me. Which is the only god damn reason someone should sent a person there!"

"You don't have another choice, Wanda!" He shouted loudly, the echo made her jump.

Her voice came out as almost a croak, "Wh-What are you talking about?"

"I am talking about the fact that I offered to help the Avengers! I offered to train you..."

"What?" Wanda felt every fibre in her body sink to the floor.

Her eyes widened before she felt the anger rise through her again, her voice was cold as she asked him again, "What?"

Stephen sniffed, his gaze shifted into the distance, he wasn't able to face her, "They asked me to fix you. They came to me asking for help, to make it easier for them to capture you."

"So was this all part of the process? Just fuck her and she'll surrender to them silently?"

"What the hell? No, how could you think that?"

"And then you say all these things about becoming better and trusting you," Wanda's eyes flashed red as shoved a finger into his chest. "All total bullshit!"

He held the place her finger had been, almost as if she had shot him there, and he shouted, "I've been trying to help you!" Her ramblings were lost as his voice was incredibly loud above hers. "I'm sorry if it's so bad to get you to be anything other than a killer because the only thing your being is a fucking child!"

Wanda lip trembled, she bit it harshly so she wouldn't cry and she looked sternly at him. She contemplated using her powers on him for a short moment but decided it wouldn't be necessary.

She raised her hand and slapped him, he left his face turned even as it was over. She waited for him to do something, maybe even hit her back, but he didn't.

"Pathetic..." Wanda scoffed as she walked past him, brushing into his shoulder purposefully, "Asshole."

**SIX MONTHS AGO.**  
──────────────────

Steve Rogers stood on the streets, still clutching his shield as he pressed his fingers against his earpiece, "I've lost her down here. Tony? See anything up there?"

"I'm blind on my end too," Tony said, putting a hold on his thrusters to get a clear view of the city, "The witch bitch has disappeared."

"She's gone," Clint sighed, dropping the hold on his bow, dragging a tense hand through his hair, "Damn it! The little minx got away again."

Clint held his knees as he crouched down, catching his breath from the running he had just done. "I spotted the girl, she's...disappeared into what appears to be some kind of portal," Clint had observed as Wanda followed a mysterious figure into the portal.

"Describe it to me," Tony brought up a search bar on his inner helmet AI.

"Orange glowing circle, opens to another location. Appears to be from some kind of unknown source. Definitely not technology."

"Got it, Friday, pull up any images of magic orange spherical-shaped portals around New York," Tony smiled as only two other images, one of them blurry appeared and was from today. It showed the pixelated face of the mysterious man. "I'm gonna need an ID on that man."

"Clearing," Friday spoke, "Identifying image...Facial recognition scanning." There was a long pause. "Scan completed. Image identified as Stephen Strange M.D, Ph.D."

"We've got a Doctor on our hands, friends. From what I see it's a man who might be hard to convince..." Tony flew to the ground, "Maybe we should have brought Vision."

"We didn't want to make a scene," Steve reminded him. They had decided not to bring Thor, Bruce or Vision because they would create too much excitement in the streets.

"I know, I know," Tony groaned, "Well, if you're up for having a chat, Clint. You're about six blocks away from his only known location."

"Oh, we're gonna be doing a lot more than talking," Clint said, grabbing on tighter to the handle of his bow.

He headed down the street, Tony had given him instructions which he followed hastily, sprinting through civilians until he arrived at what he could only assume to be the correct place.

It was quite big, and very misplaced among all the average American structures around it, he noticed the circular decorative window at the top that Stark had told him to look out for.

Hawkeye took a sharp breath in through his nose as he stood in front of the obscure Sanctum Sanctorum. He had gone a lot of places, but he had never seen an architectural structure like this before.

He was confused as he had never noticed that it was here in all his days in New York City. But, he didn't have time for any more mental maths, he wanted to find this man.

Clint knocked on the door three times, the hard wood made an echo and he waited for a while, tapping his toes before the door swung open.

There stood the man he had seen before, his facial structure was memorable. The clothes he had on were far more casual, however, same dude.

Clint grabbed a hold of the hem of his shirt, pulling him close then speaking aggressively into his face, "Listen, I know who you are. And I know you think you're smart but I really don't give a shit. You've got that Maximoff girl in there and you're gonna bring her out, right now."

"Am I, Mr Barton?" Stephen asked, "I don't really think you're going to want to test me."

"How do you know my name?"

"Besides the fact that you're an Avenger. I keep track of a lot of things in the universe. It's my job."

"Oh yeah? Tell me one secret about me."

"I know that you have a family that you're trying to keep hidden from your teammates," Clint slowly took his hands away from his neck, "I also know that if you don't get your hands off me, we're gonna have have a problem."

"You don't think I can take you?"

"I know you can't," Stephen smoothed out his top, "Now that we've stopped with that. How about you come inside and we talk?"

"Lead the way," Clint said, taking a step inside the building and Stephen closed the door behind him with a slam.

*

"So, where's Maximoff?" Clint asked as Stephen approached him again, "This really wasn't the time for a costume change."

"Ms Maximoff won't be joining us," Stephen was wearing his sorcerer attire now, he had kept Clint waiting as he conversed with Wong.

"Well, I'm not here for chit-chat. I'm here to collect her."

"And take her to jail?" Stephen shook his head, "That's not happening. Wanda Maximoff is a highly capable and enhanced asset."

"She killed Natasha Romanoff, a fleet of S.H.I.E.L.D agents and god knows who else in the past months."

Stephen sighed, he hadn't known that but he knew that for the foreseeable future they had to slide past it, "Okay. I understand, but you don't know what I've seen. I've seen her and I know that she can improve. For the greater good, I can't have her locked away."

"Well, right now she's wanted. The only way she could get out of this at this point was if she joined the Avengers," Clint almost laughed as he said it.

Stephen looked intrigued, "Really?"

"You've got to be kidding me."

**NOW**  
─────────

════▣◎▣════

 **WANDA MAXIMOFF DIDN'T** know  
anywhere else in the city. This was the only place she had been that she remembered, other than the ice cream shop.

"What's going on with you?" Greer Grant Nelson, the eccentric owner of the authentic dress makers on Cornelia Street, New York, "I haven't seen you since your fitting. And it's shame considering the outfit I made for you is one of my best works."

Wanda slouched on the work desk, empty opposed to the one Greer was working on, littered with linens and sheets she was using to make her next creation. "I know, that suit is incredible by the way."

"Thank you," Greer smiled, placing a piece of fabric on top of the other then cutting through both skilfully, "So why have you come?"

"I don't mean to ruin waste your time," Wanda apologised.

"No, not at all. I could use the company, it gets boring during lunch hours. I just thought you'd be busy with your guy friend, that's all. What was his name?"

"Stephen," Wanda said, disappointed the topic had changed to him.

"Right, yes. Stephen Strange, that's it," Greer knew him from when he was in his doctor days, "That man...he's a piece of work." She stood up, leaning against the worktop Wanda was on. "He doesn't mean to be a dick. If that's why your here. He thinks that he's right about everything, he can't stand it when he's not in control. After his accident, he wasn't the same. Car crash, straight of a cliff. It almost killed him but he became even more than of an asshole, if that's even possible."

"He still is an asshole."

"No. You should have seen him before," Greer laughed, "You would have been straight in prison, Maximoff."

Wanda's eyes widened, "How do you know my name?"

"Sweetie, you were all over the news. It would be crazy if I didn't know your name," Greer placed a hand on your shoulder, "You're lucky that Stephen is quite intimidating or I would have called the police a long time ago.He's a complicated man. He's used his head so much that he's forgotten how to use his heart. That's why he needs taking care of."

"Strange..." Wanda sighed as she placed her head in her hands, she closed her eyes - only for a second and then she saw him.

She hadn't meant to penetrate his mind like that but she did. She heard his thoughts as clear as day, "Help me, Wanda. Stop. Not again..."

"Oh my god," Wanda clambered out of her seat, "I've got to go, thanks Greer."


	12. he was meant to be the best of us

**STEPHEN STRANGE SAT** up on the couch, his skin was slick with sweat as he heaved, trying to relax. He placed a hand to his head, it ached.

He muttered to himself as he shook gently, "It's okay...it's alright."

Stephen didn't 'do' sleep, he hadn't tried to for a long while because every time he did he had dreadful visions of his accident.

Usually, he would spend his evenings astral projecting, watching over his body and reading books - trying to collect as much knowledge he could stuff into his brain before morning.

It was an avocation to escape the truth, that he was scared of going to sleep, even closing his eyes.

He brought his hands to his eye level, to see they were visibly shaking, "No..."

Then he felt hands wrap around his shoulders, holding him in a hug. He didn't need to look to know who it was, he held onto her arms tightly, "You're back..."

"I am," Wanda nuzzled into his neck, placing a small kiss there, "I'm here for you."

"I was waiting for you," Stephen explained, "I...fell asleep. And I..."

"Do you want to talk about it?" She ran her hands over his chest, "I know you've been having nightmares about your accident."

Stephen turned towards her, "How do you-"

"I read your mind," Stephen's face immediately looked irritated, "I realise that we agreed not to but I didn't mean to...you kind of reached out to me."

"Oh," Stephen moved over, letting her sit next to him, "It's okay then."

They sat in silence, Wanda watched as he gathered his thoughts and brought himself back to earth.

"I wasn't just dreaming about the accident..." Stephen's words made Wanda turn to face him, "I also think about dying."

"Strange..." Wanda grabbed his hand, it was so sudden it surprised them both.

Stephen felt a warmth in his heart as she spoke again, "You don't have to worry about dying. I'm not going to let that happen."

"I'm getting old, it's going to happen either way," Stephen said, making them both laugh.

"Stop it," Wanda scolded, "We're trying to be serious..."

"Okay," Stephen sighed, "Well, if we're being serious...I dream about you dying too."

"I can tell you that's definitely not going happen." He expected her to move her hand, in anger but she just grabbed onto his hand tighter.

"Does this happen often?" She asked, wanting to help him more, even if it was just in talking about it.

Stephen ran a hand over his face, "No. I don't usually sleep- well, I do but not in the way you'd think."

He tried to give a simple explanation of how he entered the Astral Dimension and she seemed to have some understanding. "So you fly around like a ghost instead of going to sleep?"

"Well, no. I read books."

"Oh, that makes it all better," Wanda voiced sarcastically, "You've got to get sleep, Stephen."

"I actually do sleep, I just don't physically sleep-"

"I don't care about the technicalities of it. You're getting some sleep whether you like it or not."

"Ooh," Stephen felt a smirk arise at the corner of his lips, "You trying to take care of me now, Maximoff?"

"Maybe..." Wanda tried to be subtle but changed her mind, "Actually, yes."

He took her face in his palm and pulled her in for a kiss, it was slow and satisfying, wanting to make it last as long as he could.

Wanda detached from his lips, "Don't try and get out of this with seduction."

Stephen laughed, "I wasn't even thinking of..."  
Wanda gave him a look, which made him break out into a smile, "Okay, maybe I was. A little."

"Another day," Wanda assured him.

The conversation led her to thoughts about their first time together, "Did you do that astral thingy after we slept together?"

"Yes," Stephen answered honestly.

"Oh no," Wanda shook her head, "You are definitely getting sleep because that is not happening every time we have sex."

"Really? You could do it with me."

She laughed, "No."

After a minute, there was silence again. It was mainly because the topic had drifted to yesterday, which reminded them of what happened this morning.

Stephen turned to face Wanda again, "I'm so sorry. I was a complete dick."

"It's alright. I'm sorry too." Wanda gave him a reassuring smile, "It was my fault...I was being stupid. I-I will join the Avengers."

"Are you serious?" Stephen asked.

"Yes." Wanda was serious, she had never been surer of anything else right then. She was ready to start a new phase of her life that didn't mean running or hiding or plotting...

And, she was more than ready to see Pietro again.

════▣◎▣════

 **WANDA FIDDLED WITH** the sleeves on her cardigan, she fumbled her fingers around them as she followed Stephen nervously.

Stephen noticed her odd behaviour, she was usually scared of being recognised on the streets but this was a whole new level.

"Stop worrying," He told her, "It's going to fine."

She felt slightly more relaxed when he told her this but she still felt an ounce of panic when the doors opened and she was face to face with the Avengers.

Around her was Captain America, The Vision, Colonel James Rhodes, The Falcon, Hawkeye and...Quicksilver - her brother.

Wanda returned the small smile that Pietro gave her when she saw him, "Hey, Piet."

"Come here," He extended his arms and she ran into them, giving him a full, warm hug.

"Doctor," Steve Rogers addressed him.

"Rogers..." Stephen replied, "Will Mr Stark not be joining us?"

"No, he's busy with some...business," Steve said.

"What of Banner and Thor?"

"Wish we could tell you," Clint interjected, "They've been MIA a few months after the whole Vision situation."

Stephen took a moment to briefly look over to Vision, he noticed how since Wanda had walked in, he hadn't taken his eyes off her.

However, he wasn't intimidated of him at all and made it known as he spoke to him. "You doing okay? With the mind stone?"

"Yes, I'm alright. Thank you, Mr Strange."

"That's good for you."

"Enough with the chatter," Clint changed the topic, "Where are we on the situation, Maximoff?"

"I'm sorry for all that happened. I know I caused you pain and...I didn't mean to, but I lost control. Now I've learnt from my mistakes I'm hoping to do some good," Wanda stepped away from Pietro, facing the Avenger that had the most ill-will towards her, "And I'm ready."

"Good," Clint pointed a finger in her face, "Just know that if you slip up...if you so much as to make a mistake..."

"I won't," Wanda said, with confidence and Stephen smiled at her proudly.

  
*

Wanda sat on the couch, the very same one Captain America had squat in all that time ago. She picked at the fluff on the pillows and drew circles in the leather.

"Bored already?" Stephen Strange appeared in the hallway ahead, her head shot up and her eyes immediately warmed at the sight of him.

"No," Wanda stood up, getting close to the man before her, "I was only thinking."

"About what?" He took her hips into his hands, gently pulling her to him.

She had been thinking about him, she was wondering when she was going to see him again.

With her busy helping these heroes and him occupied with his missions. What would happen to whatever they were?

"What's going to happen between...us?" Wanda asked, trailing a finger down his sideburns, "As much as I love seeing you dissolve into old age, I don't want to see you gone."

Stephen chuckled, it was light-heartened but Wanda heard the traces of worry and sadness, "I'll visit sometimes."

Wanda bit her bottom lip, trying to contain the smile of joy that invaded her face but failed miserably and gave him a peck on the lips to try and hide it.

"Promise me you'll play nice," Stephen scolded pretentiously and Wanda rolled her eyes.

"When have I not?" She gave him a kiss on the cheek, "I will, only if you promise me you'll stay safe."

"Worried about me?" Stephen joked but Wanda didn't show any hint of appreciation.

"Stephen," Wanda grabbed a hold of his wrist with a red band, before he used his hands to conjure a portal.

He groaned before answering, "Okay, Wanda. I promise."

"Thank you," She let go of his wrist, "Then I promise too."

Stephen gave her a small nod, she wasn't sure what it meant but she knew it wasn't one of certainty. Wanda watched as two of his fingers raised, into a circular motion and he departed into the glowing ring.

She turned around, adjusting herself, pulling down the edge of her shirt that Strange had hitched up to hold her bare hips to look less dishevelled.

It had taken them so long to finally get over themselves and just kiss each other...

They had wasted so much time on trying to work out their feeling and she was yearning for more of him.

She wanted more of his skin on hers, of his gentle words in her ear and harsh ones too. She didn't even care, as long as it was Stephen.

"What was that?" Wanda's head snapped around at the sound of another Sokovian accent.

"It was...nothing," She replied, shrugging.

"Sure," Pietro scoffed, "I don't think it was."

"It's just another part of the job," Wanda joked, "Visit from the doctor."

There was a moment's silence, remembering points in time that remained undiscussed. They both knew what they were thinking, it didn't take a single word to register that Pietro had been worrying about her and vice versa.

"Thank you," Pietro moved towards his younger sister, "This can't have been easy for you."

"It was difficult," Wanda admitted, running a finger under her nose, "I just..." She took a breath as if it was hard to say, "It's just complicated."

"I know," Pietro nodded, "But this is good for us. We're together again."

"Yes," Wanda placed a hand on his shoulder, "That's what's important." Pietro gave another nod in agreement and she noticed that he was being quiet, which she knew too well meant he had something else on his mind. "What?"

"Hmm," Pietro smirked in amusement and she noticed; a grimace already on her face, "I was simply thinking about what the relationship is between you and your friend, no?"

"I thought we agreed that was not a thing," Wanda said, agitated. She pushed her brother's shoulder lightly with her fingers, letting go of her hold on him from previously.

"Oh, I never agreed to anything," Pietro had on his infamous cheeky smile, "What's going on between you two?"

"Is..." Wanda smiled to herself, "Is it legal to have an intimate relationship from your...doctor?"

"Legal?" Pietro took a minute to put it together, "No. You had sex with him?"

Wanda nodded, "Yeah. Pretty fucking amazing sex."

Pietro looked more surprised than she thought he would be, they didn't normally concern themselves who they hooked up with in their free time.

"I guess I just thought you would be too busy with trying to survive and training to have..."

"He's not my boyfriend," Wanda sighed, "At least not now. We haven't made anything official, we're just spending time with each other."

Wanda was clueless, she had no idea where things really stood between them. She definitely knew that they had feelings but she wasn't sure how strong they were just yet.

"So it's just a fling?" Pietro was anxious for his sister, he had no idea what it was like being on the run from the law for that long.

He had adjusted to life as an Avenger quite well and was getting used to playing by the rules.

"I guess we're a little bit more than just a fling," Wanda sighed in frustration, "We'll figure out."

"Whatever you say, I just don't want to see you get hurt," Pietro's voice was far less light, his blue eyes were piercing as he talked to her sternly. "I'm not fond of how old he is either."

"I can take care of myself," Wanda said to convince him but she knew that she had to heed his words.

Pietro let the tension die down from their previous conversation before continuing, "Are you excited for next week?"

"You bet I am," Wanda smiled.


	13. AUTHOR’S NOTE

So, hey. 

Um, I know I haven’t posted on this story for a while. I know nobody is reading it on here but that’s alright. I am continuing this story, however it is on Wattpad. Weirdly enough this story has the same amount of reads on here as on Wattpad. I have a Wattpad account called ‘aesthetic_basic’ so it will be under there with same name and all the other chapter and so on. So, if your interested in reading, just head onto Wattpad.com or the app to read more...

❤️ Stay safe and hope your well!! :) 

\- scarletfxre


	14. maybe it’s cause i got a little bit older

**THE NEWLY INSTATED** Avenger pivoted on one foot as she turned around, in a pirouette with her arms extended in front of her, delicately adjusted to control the power she was harnessing onto Captain America.

It was just another day of training, she knew days like these all too well. It gave her warmth to know that she was finally getting some kind of schedule.

Wanda hadn't seen Stephen for a while, even though he had checked in a few times, albeit for very short periods.

It didn't give them enough time at all to do anything, they hadn't been in bed together since then. It didn't make anything better considering she wanted him all the more knowing that they had that aspect in their relationship.

She lifted the Super Soldier onto the upper ledge of the training room safety, releasing her scarlet grip on him.

Steve gave her a small nod of appreciation, "That's good."

Wanda sighed, "Thank you. I think we're getting there."

"Yes, I think later on today we can focus on getting me higher," Steve grunted as he jumped down from the ledge, "Maybe practise on actual buildings?"

"I think so too," Wanda shook her head in agreement, "I'm ready."

"Good, let's head out now," Steve Rogers turned to swiftly make his way out of the door.

Wanda fiddled with her fingers, he turned back to face her when he couldn't sense her following him, "What?"

"Actually..." Wanda grimaced with anxiousness, "Could we move it to tomorrow? I have plans with Pietro tonight."

"Oh?" Steve's eyes lit up with interest, "What's the occasion?"

"It's our birthday," Wanda felt a small smile tug on the end of her lips, still slightly excited like a child.

"I see..." Steve smiled at her brightly, "Well, happy birthday. You should have told me sooner, I would've got you something."

"No, it's alright. It's not like you're obligated, we're not close or anything..."

"Nonsense," He placed a hand on Wanda's shoulder, "Not an excuse. You're part of the team now and I'm going to be here for you."

Wanda patted his hand on her shoulder, "Thanks, Steve."

════▣◎▣════

 **PIETRO MAXIMOFF KNOCKED** on the door of his sister's new room, she had mentioned many times how she loved to take endless showers.

She had expressed her annoyance for the Sanctum's showers because they were creaky, small and the hot water always ran out.

It had proved easy to get used to the Stark-funded luxury of the present. Although, the whole adjective of today was to remember a tradition from their past.

"Wanda!" He banged on the door again, "You ready? You better not be taking a thousand years to shower again. _Wanda!_ "

Pietro heard a few clatters, the ruffling of a few items and then light footsteps of her coming to the door, which she opened before he could process - making his stumble from where he was previously leaning, against the door.

"Oh!" Wanda laughed as she saw her brother, she immediately reverted to speaking Sokovian, commenting on how stupid he was for falling.

He rolled his eyes before getting up, "I know, I know...I'm fine."

"Surprised you remember the language," Wanda joked, "Mister American."

"I was not the one trying to hide. I'm shocked your accent isn't gone yet," Pietro scanned her outfit, "You look great by the way, even if you have stolen my colour."

Wanda was wearing a dark navy dress, she had managed to find it among her old stuff - it was something Pietro had seen her wear before.

Nevertheless, it still looked stunning on her. It wasn't too revealing or too showy but it still fitted her nicely.

He knew it was hair and makeup that had taken the longest, however, because it was done to perfection. Wanda's usually wavy, droopy brown locks were bouncy curls and brushed to the side in a successful attempt at style.

"It's only fair, considering you've stolen mine," Wanda loved what Pietro was wearing, she might have been biased as he was in her favourite colour but she thought he looked dashing. "You look amazing."

"Touché," It was a cherry-red suit, with a matching tie, that was ironed so that it was shining and straight. His hair was slicked neatly to the back and his beard, that he normally grew was shaven. Wanda knew that it was brand new, probably compliments of Stark.

Wanda held out a box, hidden behind her back to give to him. Pietro accepted the object in front of him, "What's this?"

"Your gift," Wanda said, excitedly, "Open it."

"Now?" Pietro was reluctant but tore the neatly wrapped packaging, "What is it?"

Wanda grumbled, "That's why you have to open it."

"Okay, okay," Pietro chucked the packaging to the side and saw a box, it was black and dull.

His eyebrows creased in confusion before he pulled off the lid and saw a pair of blue lustrous running shoes.

They were elaborate with lines and patterns running across them, with a few lighting bolts on the heel. He turned one over to see the faint engraving of ' _Quicksilver_ ' on the back.

"Wow," Pietro was smiling ear to ear, he took his sister into a hug, "I love them. Thank you."

"Happy birthday, Pietro," Wanda squeezed him, "I love you."

"I love you too," Pietro responded almost immediately, hugging her even tighter. 

"So...where's my present?" Wanda asked cheekily when Pietro released her from his embrace.

"Your present?" Pietro acted surprised, "I had no idea it was _your_ birthday too."

Wanda rolled her eyes at him, "Very funny..."

Pietro laughed as he took her hand, "My present is where we are going tonight. Just follow me."

" _Oh_ ," Wanda was curious, "Where to?"

"That's why you have to follow me."

*

The Maximoff Twins had spent most of their night laughing and eating in the restaurant Pietro had chosen for them.

They, both still under the drinking age, had ice-cold fizzy drinks.

Their meal was pretty simple and both of them went for long-named Italian dishes which was just pasta.

Pietro was already finished and he watched as Wanda slowly picked at her food with a fork.

"I'm sorry for everything," He said while Wanda took a sip of her drink, placing down the glass when she heard him.

"For what? You didn't do anything," She took a look around the room suspiciously, "Unless you're about to leave me with the bill. Don't even think about-"

" _No_ , I'm sorry for leaving you when you told me too," Pietro sighed, "I shouldn't have. I should have gone with you, you're my little sister and it's my job to protect you. Not let you get shot at and run around fearing your life almost every minute."

"It's fine," Wanda said sternly, "I don't want to hear it. I don't need protecting, I made my choice. And, it's all good now. We're together again and it's our birthday. Let's enjoy it."

"I think we have," Pietro smiled, "I have one more surprise."

"Double dessert?" Wanda glanced at the table ahead of them, looking at the luxury ice cream with double cream, "Because I'm so ready."

Pietro looked across the room, gesturing to someone in the corner of the room to come over.

She watched as a figure came closer to them, immediately realising who it was.

Stephen Strange looked resplendent in his suit, it was a matching blue to her dress coincidentally except there was no tie and his shirt was black- deviating from the normal colour.

He was holding a box, layered in red glitter with a neat blue bow sitting on the top.

Pietro arose from the table as he watched the two look at each other in the eyes, their gaze was fixed - the longing and desirability clear.

"Have fun," Pietro bent down to kiss Wanda on the head.

"Are you sure..." Wanda wanted to ask him again if this was all okay but she knew the answer before he replied.

" _Have_ fun," Pietro gave Wanda a wink before speeding off, out of the doors.

Stephen turned back to Wanda when Pietro had left, he peered into her eyes, those beautiful eyes. They glinted, giving him the clue she was going to smile - which she did.

"So, what do you have there?" Wanda pointed towards the beautiful present box, "Is it for me?"

"That it is," Stephen sat on the chair opposite to her, drawing it out before sitting, "I hope you like it."

He placed the box on the edge of the table, away from the candles and the plates, "This better be good."

"Why? Am I in trouble?" Stephen asked, laughing but he looked up to see her unwrapping the ribbon with a displeasing look on her face. "Seriously? I thought we were past the..."

"I fucking missed you," Wanda mumbled with a growl, "You were gone for so long I thought you weren't gonna come and see me."

Stephen snorted, receiving more irritated looks from Wanda as he did but he couldn't help it.

He didn't even try to keep himself from laughing as he spoke, "T- _That's_ it? Oh my god...For a second there, I thought I actually did something."

"You did. I was worried..."

"Care about me?" Stephen smirked.

"You know I do," Wanda frowned, "It's not funny."

"Yes," Stephen keeled over, "It is."

Wanda put off opening the present to sulk, " _Hey_."

"Okay, okay..." Stephen tried to stop laughing, "But you have to admit it is a bit funny..."

Wanda let the edge of her lips curve into a small smile, "Maybe."

Stephen turned back to the red box on the table, nudging towards it, "Go on."

He had spent quite a while working on what to give her for a present after Pietro had told him. He shouldn't have been told, he had to admit - it wasn't funny.

He'd disappeared for a lengthy amount of time, which contradicted what he had told Wanda before about visiting her.

Stephen had just been busy protecting reality, he had sensed something greater was coming. It would be something he wouldn't be able to stop or control.

"Holy..." She trailed off into inaudible expletives of surprise, "Stephen..."

His eyes were glistering, as well as his smile which was so wide it caused creases at the rim of his cheeks. "You like it?"

"Are you serious?" Wanda laughed softly as she stared down at the box, "I _love_ it."

"I'm glad," Stephen felt his chest fill with pride at how thrilled she looked with her present.

It was a necklace, it wasn't anything too costly but he had picked it particularly for her. It had a black cloth link, making it look very retro apart from the purple shining stone it had in the pendant, which was the only type of colour the jewellery had as it was fairly simple.

"I'm sorry, I know it's not anything special," Stephen laughed bashfully.

"Stop," Wanda reached across the table to hold his hand and squeezed it, "Thank you."

Stephen gave his order to a waiter passing by and Wanda couldn't help but watch as he looked so in his element as he spoke. He looked like he was in control and as if he was adoring it. She hadn't known much about what Stephen was like before but she knew he had some sort of superiority complex.

And as Wanda caught a glimpse of his past self, she felt a warmth in the pit of her stomach turn. She liked it when she saw him taking control, she wanted to see more, she wanted him to show her more...

"What?" Strange asked her as he finished ordering, "Did I do something again?"

"No, quite the opposite," Stephen raised his eyebrows in confusion, slightly aware of the fact she might have been aroused at the way she was smiling at him but it would have to wait until later.

He wanted to catch up with her, he simply just wanted them to talk at the moment.

"So, what did you order?" Wanda looked down at the menu he tucked in the corner.

"Just something special for us," Stephen had a playful smirk, "So, how old are you?"

"I am eighteen years of age as of today, Doctor."

"Oh," Stephen winced, "That's _brutal_. You're an old woman now, Maximoff. You have been playing me this whole time, I am _way_ too young for you."

Wanda laughed, she felt a blush surround her face as he smiled with glee and continued his mockery, "Yeah, that is brutal."

When the laughter died down, the desserts had been served, turning out to be a large ice cream sundae in which they shared the spoon and he had brazenly ordered a bottle of wine for them, it became quiet.

Wanda decided to answer the question she knew Stephen wouldn't bother to say out loud, "I don't care that you're older than me. I know it's weird, I can see people staring and wondering whether I'm in danger or something but I don't care. Not at all. I think in my eyes you aren't even that old at all and I don't care if I have to see you old and wrinkly. As long as I'm the only one who's seeing you that way."

Stephen felt his heart swell so much it hurt and could only hope she knew an inch of what he felt for her. "Thank you, I've always wondered."

"Now you don't have to," She gave him a warm smile before taking a sip of her glass of wine.

"You wanna finish the rest of this bottle?" Stephen pointed at the wine.

"No thanks," Wanda chuckled, "Let's get out of here."

"Indeed," Stephen rose from the seat, "What about the bill?"

"It's okay," Wanda grabbed her bag, "We've charged everything under Stark."

"Of course you have," He laughed, "Same old Maximoff."

Wanda laughed with him before grabbing slotting her fingers into his own, "Let's go."

*

"We can't do this..." Stephen groaned as Wanda attacked the nape of his neck with her mouth, "Not _here_."

They would be exposed to anyone who walked by, no one was in the alleyway. However, there were still civilians walking by in the street who could easily turn the corner and see them.

"I want them to see..." Wanda whispered into his ears, "Don't you?"

He was certain she was a bit drunk, that was definitely the last time he helped an under-aged person drink alcohol.

" _Jesus_ ," Stephen cursed as she bit down on his skin, surely leaving a mark, "Maximoff..."

"Strange..." Wanda was encouraged to kiss him intensely, pulling the collar of his blazer, "You should've come sooner...We would have done this all day."

He kissed her, desire coursing through him as he slipped his tongue into her mouth, trying to dominate her.

Wanda groaned as she tried to keep up, the scratching of his beard making it hard for her. He could almost hear her whine against his lips as she fought back but she still won.

"You're quite deft with your tongue," Stephen chuckled, panting as he left her lips, "I wouldn't have guessed."

They looked at each other for a moment, their eyes were both dark and needy. Stephen was completely flushed, his pupils were dilated and irresistible lips that were throbbing for more.

Wanda wasn't far from that state but she wanted to give him what she hadn't last time.

"That's not all I can do," Wanda crouched down, trying to undo his belt buckle and tug down his trousers. She stared hungrily between his legs, "I want you right here, _now_."

Stephen gasped, he felt heat pool inside him as he looked down at Wanda who's glassy green eyes also looked up at him, her mouth still trailing down his neck and he was certain she had left a mark where Wong could see.

He grabbed her head softly, making sure not to pierce into her skull with his nails.

His thoughts were foggy as he felt himself ache for a release, he felt himself getting close before Wanda detached from him, "What?"

"Don't hold back," Wanda smirked before placing her lips around him once again.

His eyebrows creased and it took a beat before he understood what she was trying to do, " _Fuck_."

He grabbed onto her head tightly, digging his fingers further into her scalp and he heard her groan.

He moaned as he felt Wanda's tongue sliding up and down his mouth. Her fingers trailing on his body, gripping him faster and harder.

"Wanda..." Stephen's head fell back, Wanda's hands kept slipping to his trousers, he had moved her hands away a couple times before but he could tell she was getting impatient.

"That was hot," Wanda said, pulling his head close to hers, not the slightest bit bothered as a man walked past.

It wasn't much use trying to hide though, as he had already seen them as he turned into the pathway. Stephen was pretty sure he caught the sight of a few others who turned back to go the other way in dread.

"Stephen," Wanda spoke into his skin, "I want you."

As Wanda kisses him, he feels no need to fight back, he wanted to let her take control. For the first time in a sexual relationship he had, he _liked_ not dominating. But he didn't want to have sex.

"You could've told me in the restaurant," Wanda hitches up her dress, pulling the fabric up to her waist, "You know I wouldn't have cared. We would have gone straight home."

"I should've...but clearly you didn't need us too. I didn't know you were into exhibitionism," Stephen smirked, "I guess I'll just keep having to learn what you're capable of."

Wanda laughed a little, "I thought you were supposed to be teaching me." She handed him the condom, which he fiddled with, "It's okay..."

"N-No," Stephen growled, "It's not that."

"We don't have time to feed your ego. Just..." She noticed the irritation in his eyes as she took it off him, kissing his cheek, then layering gentle kisses on his hands.

"Wanda," Stephen spoke gently, causing her to listen to his words carefully, "I'm not having sex in an alley."

"Oh, I-I'm sorry," Wanda held Stephen close to her, she loved the smell of his aftershave around his neck and cheeks he used to clean up his goatee.

"It's alright," Stephen smiled, "Let's just stay here for a bit." He helped Wanda pull down her dress and noticed the redness in her cheeks. "Don't be embarrassed, Maximoff. It was quite...hot."

She laughed before hugging him tighter, he kissed the top of her head, "Thanks."

"There's no need to rush...we have time," Stephen told her as he ran his hands through her hair.

At some point, rain even started falling onto them but they didn't move from each other's embrace.

She liked sliding her arms to his waist and massaging the small of his back to receive small satisfied groans from the man.

She didn't mind that the rain was pouring down on her hair that she had taken hours to do. She liked it.

Stephen liked the rain too, dripping down onto their skin, allowing the friction that came with being dry to vanquish into smooth, sensual touches.

He thought Wanda was one of the most gorgeous women he had ever known, it was no secret that she was incredibly seductive but he then he knew that she was an unquestionably _beautiful_ human being.

"You're beautiful," Stephen told her, resting his chin on her head.

She accepted it, burrowing her face into his chest as she mumbled a reply, "So are you."


	15. who just saved your magical ass

**STEPHEN ESCORTED WANDA** back to the New Avengers Facility, on foot it had taken a while but it wasn't anything they couldn't handle.

They entered the hall where Wanda had expected to see Pietro, but he wasn't anywhere to be seen.

Wanda turned around to face him in the empty kitchen, she placed a gentle kiss on his lips, running a hand through his hair.

"I want to tell you something," Her accent was thick and from this, he knew that she was going to say something of importance.

"Go on," Stephen said, looking into her green eyes, they sparkled in the light, "I'm listening."

"I..." Wanda took a breath, "I saw you...Before I met you. I snuck into the Avengers Tower, I managed to see the cradle..."

"You saw Vision?" He asked, he almost felt as if she was warning him of something, that she had a connection with Vision that he didn't know of and couldn't relate to.

"Yes," Wanda answered, "But that's not what I'm talking about. When I touched it, I saw you. B-But you weren't there, you were somewhere...else. And, I guess what I'm trying to say is I think I saw you about to die."

Stephen knew what she was talking about, he and Wong had foreseen an event where he would die. He wasn't exactly sure what Wanda was talking about but he had an idea. Then and there he could have told her what he saw too...

That the real reason he had found her was that he had seen her die, or about to die. That he had tried to train her, fix her, do whatever he could to avoid it. Though, all the sentences he wanted to say to her sounded like it wouldn't go down well so he forgot about that.

"It's alright," Stephen told her, "It was only a vision, I'll be fine."

"Good," Wanda pulled him into another kiss, but she could tell he was distracted - perhaps distant. He gave her a sad smile and she knew what he was going to say before he even did.

"You're going to go again, aren't you?" She trailed a hand up and down his arm.

Stephen felt guilty for leaving her but he knew he had a duty, "You know I have to."

Wanda spared him a low-spirited look, she wasn't thrilled to see that he would be gone for such a long time, "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Stephen sighed, "I'll miss you."

"I know," Wanda held his hands, circling her thumb around his palm, "I will too."

"I will see you again, Maximoff," He pulled her head in, his fingers tangled into her hair and gave her kiss, "Stay safe."

"You too, Strange," Wanda stepped back as he brought out his sling ring from a pocket, "Until next time. Don't be a stranger."

"I can't make any promises, you know it's in my name," He said with a wink before casting out his hands in front of him and the familiar orange sparks flowed into a circle, creating a portal which he stepped through.

As the older man left the room, it suddenly felt smaller, he had been providing her with a feeling that vanished as soon as he exited.

Wanda closed her eyes, still feeling everything about him around her, the feel of his lips, the smell of his aftershave and cologne on her skin. Images of his body, his smile, just his whole aura in her brain...

"Wha..." Wanda's eyes snapped open as she heard the soft sound of a whoosh, she looked to the walls to see a greenish flash of light coming into the room.

She was surprised to see the figure of The Vision form in front of her.

"Vision?" Wanda asked, already knowing the answer. He stared back at her innocently. "How did you do that?"

"It's called phasing," He explained in his clear, British-accented tone of voice.

Vision was exactly as Wanda had expected him to be, there was a certain _order_ about him that she liked.

"Oh, well don't do it again," Wanda told him, explaining how it was creepy and scared the hell out of her. She had seen weird things but she wasn't ready to see Vision going in and out of the walls to creep up on her.

He apologised profusely before offering to make her a cup of coffee but she declined as it reminded her too much of early mornings at the Sanctum...

He wasn't anything like Stephen and their connection wasn't anything close, at least she thought. However, the connection was still there and she felt the same openness to the future she had when she felt when touching the cradle.

Naturally, she found herself walking along the corridors and stairs and heading to Pietro's room.

She pushed open the door to see him lying on the bed, remote in hand as he watched the show playing on the television. Wanda noted that it was in Russian and flashbacks of their childhood circulated through her mind.

They used to crowd around the only TV in the  
orphanage and huddle together to watch any overdramatic Sokovian soap opera was on...

"Did you have fun?" Pietro asked and she could hear the cheekiness in his voice.

"I did," Wanda crawled next to him, falling into a hug, "Best birthday present ever. Thank you, Piet."

"No problem," Pietro said, "I knew you were horny."

Wanda wanted to slap him but instead, she just laughed, he was right after all, "Shut up."

"Where'd the old man go?" Pietro asked, looking around the room as if he would appear out of thin air.

"He..." Wanda knew her brother didn't approve of him just from the first sight and she didn't want him to dislike Stephen any further, "He has a job to do. It's important but we're okay, he's not going to hurt me."

"As long as your sure," Pietro said.

Wanda took a glance around the room then noticed that the wardrobe was wide open and completely empty, the tables were bare and none of Pietro's junk was cluttering the floor.

"Where's all your stuff?" Wanda asked.

"It's still at Barton's place," Pietro explained, "The team needed time apart so I went to stay with him and his family. I'm going to pick it up tomorrow."

"Family?" Wanda was almost surprised, "Well, that's good of him. I'm amazed he let you in after I killed his best friend."

"About that," Pietro took her hand, "You didn't kill her. I was there, it was an _accident_. You can't blame yourself."

"But the only thing is...I can," Wanda sighed, she thought about the day a moment. The images flashed through her mind, the Avengers charging towards her, the streams of red that emitted from her hands as she dodged the weapons firing at her...

"I want to come with you," Wanda told him, "Tomorrow when you go and get your things from Clint's place. I _want_ to go and apologise."

"Wanda...I don't think that's the best idea," Pietro warned, he knew that Hawkeye wasn't exactly best friends with him yet and he didn't think he would be considering getting buddy-buddy with Wanda.

"I didn't ask," Wanda said, "I'm coming."

════▣◎▣════

 **"THANK YOU FOR** letting me in," Wanda Maximoff spared Clint Barton a meek smile as she entered his humble farmhouse.

"No problem," Clint let out a little chuckle, "I let in fugitives of the law all the time. Just a regular Tuesday for me."

"She's not a fugitive," Pietro corrected, being careful not to be too harsh, "Not anymore."

"Oh, I know," Clint led them to the sitting area, where he gestured for them to sit down, "Any drinks? I've got some Capri-Sun. Fruit Shoot?"

"We're eighteen," Pietro reminded him, getting comfortable in his favourite spot on the couch, kicking his legs up onto the back pillows, " _Not_ children."

"Understood," Clint nodded, chuckling at Pietro, "I'm joking."

Pietro brought out the phone he had in his back pocket, Wanda looked him up and down as he did.

They never had phones or anything growing up so it was a surprise when he started to type on its screen meticulously.

Clint tutted, "Ever since Stark gave him that thing he's been on it non-stop."

There was a knock at the door leading to the inner house, their heads all turned to see Laura Barton, "Um, hey. Piet, I have all your stuff ready for you on the upper floor. I can't carry it all down here by myself."

"Oh, thank you, Mrs Barton," Pietro sat up straight, in a blink of an eye he was standing next to Laura, "You two get to know each other."

He gave Wanda and Clint a cheeky wink before zooming off, past Laura, she rolled her eyes, "He's worse than the kids."

When Laura Barton chased after Pietro, Wanda and Clint were left in the room alone. The awkwardness that went silently exchanged between them was almost deafening, she felt the anger he had for her, she _felt_ it.

"I wanted to thank you," Wanda's voice cut into the silence, "For...taking in Pietro, he can be stubborn. I wouldn't have expected you to want to."

"Don't I know it, the quick little bastard has got on my nerves many times," Clint tried to joke before seeing the straight face Wanda had, letting out an awkward cough, "Sorry, he's great. He's really good with the kids."

Pietro had become close with the Barton family during his stay, part of Wanda was conflicted about what she felt but she knew that Pietro was charismatic...to some extent.

Pietro had spent most of his time running laps around the field to 'race' Nathaniel, attempting to help Lila with her homework and conducting manly talks with Cooper, against Clint's will.

"You're still angry," Wanda didn't need to ask, she knew exactly what his thoughts were.

"I..." Clint had to brace himself from tears, "I am."

"Do you want me dead?" Wanda asked. She was slightly scared he did, the tremble in her voice making it obvious.

"I did," Clint said, honestly, repeating himself, "I did. I was very angry, I didn't want her death to be...I wanted you to pay but I understand now that it wasn't your fault."

"You do?" She cocked her head, "I'm surprised."

"I realised that we sort of pushed you to throw her..." Clint took a breath, he covered his face but Wanda could still see he was crying. She picked up the box of tissues she spotted on the table, placing them gently on the pillow beside him and he waited for the glowing red band to disappear before picking some up. "Thanks..."

"I'm sorry," She knew it wouldn't mean anything to him, "I know it's late but I am. I blamed myself...I still do."

"You shouldn't, it wasn't your fault," Clint got up, Wanda watched hesitantly as he sat right beside her, "You're part of the team now, Maximoff. You didn't deserve what happened to you."

"Neither did she," Wanda looked down to the creases in the airy fabric of the flowing dress she was wearing, trying to get lost in them, "I take responsibility and I blame myself. I'm trying to become different, I hope I'm getting there."

"You will, someday," Clint smiled and chuckled as he watched Wanda force a small curve at the end of her lips, it only took a bump on the shoulder to make her laugh along.

"So you two became best friends while I was gone?" Pietro's smug smirk was on his face as he leant against the doorway, arms crossed, luggage strewn out in front of him.

"I understand what you mean by bastard now," Wanda shared a laugh with Clint and they watched Pietro's face present a half-offended glare. The two rose from the couch as Pietro grabbed the rest of his things from Mrs Barton and roll it to the door. Wanda turned to the man, "See you at work?"

"No, actually," Pietro turned to Hawkeye as he heard him speak, unaware of what he was talking about. "I have decided I won't be returning to the Avengers. I am...retiring."

"I knew you were old but I didn't know you were that old," Pietro abandoned the task of moving his things, he walked up to the sitting area, stepping over a toy train to face the marksman, "Is this a final decision? This isn't for any _particular_ reasons, is it?" His eyes shifted over to Wanda.

Clint shook his head adamantly, "No, of course not. I have a family to take care of and I'd like to see my children grow up before I die."

"Oh," Pietro didn't hide his disappointment, "Thank you for everything, old man." The blonde-haired young man took him in his arms, causing his to groan as he caught him off guard with a tight squeeze.

"No problem, kid."


	16. maybe it’s all that i’ve been through

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now. I know this is mostly canon but this is basically the only chapter that will be this canon. I think, I’m not rlly sure what’s classified as ‘strictly canon.’
> 
> — scarletfxre

**WANDA MAXIMOFF PICKED** up a sachet of sugar, she added it to the cup of coffee sitting on the table that she had gone out of her way to order.

It was unnecessary but she never passed up an opportunity to get a cup, now relishing in the moments it brought to her mind.

If she was going to succeed today she would need to remember most of her days with Stephen, everything that he taught her - in particular.

She finished stirring the drink with a metal spoon before raising it to her lips to take a sip while she looked around the area.

It didn't take long before Captain America was chirping in her ears again, reminding her what to do, "All right, what do you see?"

"Standard beat cops," Wanda took another look around, seeing police eating doughnuts, "Small station. Quiet street. It's a good target."

"There's an ATM in the south corner, which means?" Steve watched from a high distance, peering through the curtains of an isolated apartment.

"Cameras," Wanda's accent had started slipping, she was getting better at American now.

"Both cross streets are one way..."

"So, compromised escape routes."

"For you at least," Pietro smiled from two tables behind - he was wearing a similar disguising baseball cap to his sister, fit with shades and had been quietly munching on biscuits, until that point.

"No speeding until we're ready for attack," Steve warned him, "We know our guy doesn't care about being seen, he isn't afraid to make a mess on the way out. You see that Range Rover halfway up the block?"

"Yeah, the red one?" Wanda peered over to see the car, the fact that it was her favourite one not helping her pick up anything else, "It's cute."

"It's bulletproof. Which, I assume, means private security. Which means more guns, which means more headaches for somebody. Probably us," You could hear the smirk in Pietro's voice, "Excluding myself...obviously."

"You guys know I can move things with my mind, right?" Wanda took another sip of her drink.

"Looking over your shoulder needs to become second nature," Sam said through the radio and there was an immediate pause.

Wanda then looked over her shoulder to see Pietro whose face shared the same look of melancholy.  
Even not knowing who Natasha was, everyone knew that was something she would say.

"Eyes on the target, folks," Steve tried to them to focus again, "This is the best lead we've had on Rumlow in six months. I don't want to lose him."

Rumlow was still alive to Wanda's despise. It wasn't news she had taken with gladness as she had taken pride in what she had thought to have been killing him in her last encounter.

"If he sees us coming that won't be a problem," Sam pointed out, "He kinda hates us."

Wanda nodded, he could say that again. There was a few more conversation between the Captain and Falcon before one sentence caused Wanda's eyes to light up, "Go now."

"What?" She asked, surprised.

"He's not hitting the police," Steve answered.

They were heading somewhere else, they crashed through the gates of a hospital - an Institute for Infectious Diseases and used a truck to crash through the entrance, entering through the hole it had made.

Soldiers in black, protective armour emerged from the back of the vehicles, firing rifles around the courtyard as four other soldiers entered the building, throwing gas canisters to the floor and making the doctors fall unconscious, gas masks protecting themselves.

The Falcon flies by, dropping Captain America who smashed on the window, blocking gunfire with his shield before swinging it towards the soldiers and knocking two out of his way to get a view on top of a van. "Body armour, AR-15's. I make seven hostiles."

Sam knocked soldiers to the floor with his wings, bringing out guns to shoot the one in front of him before pressing his earpiece to talk to Cap, "I make five."

Wanda flew over the building, she felt the wind rush by in her hair exactly as it should as she pushed the energy through her hands to land to the ground safely.

She saw energy pulse to the floor as she snapped her head up, keeping the red flowing to block gunfire that immediately headed straight for her.

"Sam," She grabbed ahold of the soldier's body, squeezing it tightly and lifting him upwards towards the Falcon who knocked him to the floor.

"Four," Sam added, he used Redwing to scan the building, "Rumlow's on the third floor."

"Wanda," Steve turned to her, "Just like we practiced."

"What about the gas?"

"Get it out."

Wanda's hands glowed red, she encased Steve in a bright bundle, spinning slowly to raise him up to the window, where he would attack the soldiers. She felt a wave of relief course through her as he landed into the building gently.

Now, getting the gas out wouldn't be too hard. She had seen Stephen study a spell quite similar, a spell called the Winds of something.

But, the spell wasn't the thing she needed, it was only the specific hand gestures.

She curved her fingers, taking a hold on the gas and spinning it round and round into a big tornado which she let grow until it was into the air. Sam blocked any gunfire behind her.

"Rumlow has a biological weapon," Steve said into the radio.

"Got it," Pietro was finally ready to get some action, he sped quickly towards the scene, leaving wisps of blue behind him as he rushed into the attack.

He managed to knock some soldiers down, kicking a punching past them, too fast for any of them to catch him. He spotted Rumlow but he rushed away too soon, "He's got away."

════▣◎▣════

 **SAM WILSON LANDED** on a rooftop, he scanned the area with his goggles, "I got four, they're splitting up."

The team were now on a chase through the city, those who could keep up were. Pietro Maximoff ran through the crowd, he jumped off the hood of cars, "I've got the two idiots on the left."

Steve Rogers is also running along with cars, he stops to scan the area, slightly hesitant, "They ditched their gear, it's a shell game now. One of them has the payload."

Steve spots a piece of glowing machinery on his shield, it immediately clicks that it's a bomb as he flings it into the air to let it explode away from the citizens.

Rumlow approaches the Captain from the back, punching him to the floor, "There you are, you son of a bitch. I've been waiting for this."

Pietro continued to chase one of the soldiers through the city, he knew he had the weapon, it wasn't much of a race but he kept up with him at a human speed.

He jumped onto him, tackling him to the floor with much effort before he got thrown off and another soldier entered the picture. He threw the basket on the floor towards his feet, making him tumble.

He waited until they were both on the ground to speed towards the gun on the floor, pointing it at the soldier who proved not to be the one with the weapon as he turned to see the other one holding the vial.

"Drop it!" Pietro would be lying if he said he wasn't frightened as the mercenary shouted, "Or I'll drop this. Drop it!"

"He'll do it," The other mercenary egged on, Pietro was worried. He wasn't even sure he knew how to shoot a gun.

"Shit..." Pietro cursed under his breath before seeing Redwing appear slowly and fire at the soldier with the vial.

Pietro used his speed, a blur to everyone else as he knocked down the soldier with the gun and ran over to retrieve the vial before it smashed to the ground.

He spoke into the radio, "The vial's secure. Thanks, Wilson."

"Don't thank me," Sam smiled, zooming into Pietro's face with the bird-like machinery.

"It's not a bird," Pietro rolled his eyes.

"His name is Redwing."

"I'm still not thanking him."

"He's cute, go ahead. Pet him."

Captain America and Crossbones were still engaging in combat, neither one gaining the upper hand, Brock keeps swinging for his face which is blocked efficiently by a small lean.

Steve decides to punch him which doesn't sit well as he gets thrown into a wall with a large grunt before getting up again to throw more punches.

"This is for dropping a building on my face," Brock growls as a knife extends from his armour, he had Steve pinned down.

However, Steve dodged his attack once again, ripping off the piece of the weaponised metal glove on his hand. Brock revealed the knife he had on the other side but Steve was quick as he disarmed him again, kicking him far to the other side of the market place.

He ran over to Rumlow, who was defeated on his knees, he peeled off the skeletal mask to reveal his face or at least what appeared to be left of it. His face was scarred, red thick lines ran across his face.

Most of it from when a building was dropped on his face, some of it from getting thrown out of a train at top speed.

"I think I look pretty good, all things considered," Brock smiled, half-joking.

"Who's your buyer?" Steve grabbed him by the scruff of the neck.

"You know, he knew you," Brock still had a smile on his face, "Your pal, your buddy, your Bucky."

Steve felt himself become weak, small - everything had changed for him right there, all he could remember was Bucky...the Bucky that was there for him every day getting attacked on the streets Brooklyn.

"What did you say?" Steve asked, not believing it. It was too good.

"He remembered you. I was there, he got all weepy about it. Till they put his brain back in the blender. He wanted you to know something. He said to me, "Please tell Rogers. When you gotta go, you gotta go. And you're coming with me."" It all happened too fast, Brock pressed the button on his bomb vest, activating the flames that increased around him.

Wanda acted quickly as Steve stood there, paralysed, she struggled as she encased him inside a glowing field of energy, trapping the flames inside a ball.

It was hard to control, just containing the flames took too much mental capacity. And she still had to get it away from the civilians.

"Argh..." Wanda screamed before lifting him up into the air, trying to fling him upwards before knocking him off course and into the hospital building a few metres away.

Wanda ducked, shielding herself from the blast that erupted, glass shattering and the explosion multiplying...it wasn't until she stood up straight that her eyes opened.

It was horrific, screams and shouts circled around her as people ran from the scene. Almost a quarter of one section of the building was on fire, her eyes didn't know where to look before everything in her brain cantered.

She had thrown him into a building of people. Innocent people. They had been in the hospital, already frail - some doctors trying to help them and she had just killed them.

It had happened again. She'd messed up, again and that was all she could think as she felt her facial features crease and tears water her eyes.

"Sam...we need...Fire and Rescue...on the south side of the building," Words from Steve fell into the background for her as she stared up in awe...

What had she done?


	17. only learn to live above them

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> civil war was a stony movie. ps. start to look closely at pietro and steveee. thanks for reading! xoxo.
> 
> — scarletfxre

**WANDA SAT WITH** her head resting on her hand as she let the sound of the news channel drown the room. It was better than moping, it was definitely better than thinking about what she'd done.

She had put down the guitar she had previously been trying to learn, she was actually quite good at it.

Not really a surprise, considering she was used to using precise finger movements. It was one of Stephen's ideas to help her gain control. But she couldn't concentrate on anything today...

The TV was on and the reporter spoke as words scrolled onto the screen: ' ** _AVENGERS INCIDENT IN LAGOS_**.'

"She should have had more training. There was no one else we could blame here. You stand in the face of danger, you _have_ to be ready," One of the news anchors spoke in the back as pictures of the disaster in Lagos flashed on the screen, "It was only a matter of time before something like this happened. They are acting outside and above the international law because that's the reality if we don't respond to acts like these, I mean, we all heard of what happened with Romanoff..."

Another reporter spoke on top of him, "Yes, that's exactly why the question we come to ask is...What legal authority does an enhanced individual like Wanda Maximoff have to operate in Nigeria-"

The TV switches to black and Wanda turned to see Steve Rogers at the door, leaning against the door frame, arms crossed.

"It's my fault," She tells him, she knew what he was trying to do.

"That's not true."

"Turn the TV back on, they're being _very_ specific."

"I should've clocked that bomb vest long before you had to deal with it," Steve started walking over to her, "Rumlow said 'Bucky' and...all of a sudden I was a sixteen-year-old kid again in Brooklyn." He sat beside Wanda. "And people died. It's on me."

"It's on both of us," Wanda sat up, removing her hand from her head.

Wanda knew that she couldn't keep dwelling on the past, no matter how traumatising it would be.

"You know..." Steve sighed, "I blamed myself for Strucker's death. It tore me apart seeing what I did to you..."

"I know. If makes you feel any better I blamed you too," Wanda smiled and Steve let out a little chuckle. She scoffed, "No...I um, I blamed myself too. I was so upset that I didn't do more...to save him. Then I was so, so angry that I wanted to kill you. But when I finally did kill an Avenger, it turned out to be everything I _didn't_ want. Then it happened... _again_."

Wanda caught the lump in her throat, she turned to Steve who was looking away, his eyes filled with pity.

"This job..." Steve looked to the floor before turning back to her, "We try to save as many people as we can. Sometimes, that doesn't mean everybody. But if we can't find a way to live with that, then next time...maybe nobody gets saved."

Steve and Wanda's heads whipped around as they heard the light whooshing sound of Vision materialising through the walls.

"Vizh! We talked about this!" Wanda's tone showed her annoyance at having to remind him of their previous conversation.

"Yes, but the door was open so I assumed that..." He pointed towards the door and walked towards it, forward-facing them both, noting Wanda's disgruntled expression, "Captain Rogers wished to know when Mr Stark was arriving."

"Thank you," Steve nodded, "We'll be right down."

"I'll...use the door. Oh, and apparently, he's brought a guest."

"We know who it is?"

"The Secretary of State."

"What of Doctor Strange?" Wanda asked. The last time he came to visit was her birthday, she wasn't the slightest bit shocked that he hadn't shown. But, she knew that an event like this meant he probably should...

"Sorry to say but he's MIA, as always," Vision gave her a weak smile before exiting.

They heard a little crunch, Pietro appeared at the door, eating chocolate affectionately. As Wanda and Steve looked at him, he simply smiled, "I was actually wondering when you'd leave the room, Rogers. I want to talk to Wanda..."

Steve chuckled a little at Pietro's sass, "Alright...be down soon, we have a guest."

Pietro and Steve had gotten to know each other while staying in the same accommodation. Steve knew things about Pietro that he would have never wanted to before, that was the thing about irony, he guessed - it crept up on you when you were least expecting it and Steve Rogers was definitely not expecting to share even the slightest feelings of likeness for his former enemy...

"I heard," Pietro nodded, he watched Steve leave the room, taking a long-lasting look at the view, before turning to his sister.

Her eyebrow was raised, she stared at him with a look of incredulity at what she thought she saw, "Is everything alright, Pietro? Anything you want to tell me?"

"Huh?" The sides of Pietro's face flamed up instantly, he strolled over timorously, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Yeah, yeah..." Wanda laughed softly, stopping the jokes, she knew what was coming next.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah..." Wanda placed a hand on his shoulder, "I'll be fine, Piet."

"Sorry about your doctor friend," Pietro thrust the box he was holding closer, offering her chocolate.

Wanda shook her head, eating right now would make her feel nauseous, she tucked a hair behind her ear, "It's alright, he's probably busy..."

"You can't let him do this again," Pietro sighed, "We haven't seen him in two months. That's hardly what I would call commitment."

"That's actually kind what I'm worried about," Wanda lowered her voice as she leaned in, "Did you do that favour I asked you?"

*

"Five years ago, I had a heart attack. I dropped right in the middle of my back-swing," Thaddeus Ross started to tell them a story, "Turned out it was the best round of my life, because after 13 hours of surgery and a triple bypass..."

Most of the Avengers looked engaged, apart from Tony who was looking vaguely uninterested in the back. Wanda didn't know where she was at, she wasn't sure if she liked or disliked this man.

"I found something 40 years in the Army had never taught me...Perspective. The world owes the Avengers an un-payable debt. You have fought for us, protected us, risked your lives...but while a great many people see you as heroes, there are some...who would prefer the word 'vigilantes.'"

"And what word would you use?" Pietro Maximoff raised an eyebrow, " _Sir_."

"How about 'dangerous'?" Secretary Ross retorted with what Pietro thought to be an equal amount of impudence, "What would you call a group of US-based, enhanced individuals who routinely ignore sovereign borders and inflict their will wherever they choose and, frankly, seem unconcerned about what they leave behind?"

Wanda didn't think that was fair, sure they hadn't paid for anyone's funerals but it was hardly accurate to say that they didn't care. She definitely did.

The Secretary pressed a button on the small remote he was carrying, activating a screen behind him which displayed pictures from past Avengers endeavours.

"New York," There was a Chitauri Leviathan, it snakes across the screen as the images circulated to people screaming and running for their lives, soldiers shooting their ammo and the Hulk smashing into a building. Rhodey glanced behind him to share a distant look with Rogers.

"Washington, DC," Three insight Helicarriers were shown firing at each other, a destroyed Triskelion and the wave that followed other damage created, engulfing citizens and the camera footage that blacked out. Sam's eyes fell down.

"Sokovia," Wanda saw herself, running around with Pietro as people screeched as they went by.

Then, she saw pictures of herself, causing soldiers to fall to their feet with red beams that shot from her body.

There were gunshots and other menial damage recordings before it cut to an image she had only seen repeated in her dreams as she saw Natasha getting thrown into the building above.

No one dared to look when the screen cut to a snapshot of Black Widow's lifeless face.

"Lagos," Thaddeus tried to continue with footage of the burning hospital, paramedics moving around and dead children...

Wanda felt her throat clogging up as she could hear the imaginative words of blame being thrown onto her, not that their weren't some already said.

Pietro, opposite her, looked over at Steve - urging him to help and he reacted quickly...

"Alright," Steve Rogers had watched as she stared effectively into the lifeless wooden table, "That's enough."

Ross switched off the screen, proceeding to talk, "For the past four years, you've operated with unlimited power and no supervision. That's an arrangement the governments of the world can no longer tolerate. But I think we have a solution."

An assistant handed him a thick booklet, it looked crisp and freshly printed, he slid it across the table to Wanda.

She felt targeted, why didn't he pass it to Rhodey? It's not like she could read all that detailed, verbose English anyway.

"The Sokovia Accords..."

  
════▣◎▣════

 **WANDA HAD MANAGED** to get out of that meeting without trying to snap anybody's head. The only thing that meeting had told her was that the Secretary of State didn't take too much of a liking to her and that the Avengers needed a lot of work.

The Avengers sat in the Facility, scattered around the sitting area. Sam and Rhodey bickered behind the couch, where Steve was sat carefully studying over the Accords, flicking through its numerous pages.

Vision, Wanda and Pietro sat on the couch, waiting expectantly for someone to make a choice.

The Maximoff Twins didn't feel like they'd been members of the 'club' long enough to input and if they were being honest...they didn't know what they were going to do.

"Secretary Ross has a Congressional Medal of Honour..." Rhodey pointed to Sam's chest argumentatively, "Which is one more than you have."

Tony sat, with his hand over his face, looking as bored as he had during the meeting with his eyes half-closed, only opening them to roll his eyes at the argument that was making all the noise in the room.

"So let's say we agreed to this thing?" Sam asked, continuing to challenge the Colonel, "How long is it going to be until they LoJack us like a bunch of common criminals?"

"A hundred and seventeen countries want to sign this. _A hundred and seventeen_ , Sam and you're just like 'No, that's cool. We got it.'"

"How long are you gonna play both sides?"

" _I_ have an equation!" Vision spoke up, eyes turned to him as he interrupted the Falcon and War Machine's squabble.

"Oh, this will clear it up."

"In the eight years since Mr Stark announced himself as Iron Man, the number of known enhanced persons has grown exponentially. And...during the same period, the number of potentially world-ending events has risen at a commensurable rate."

Steve held off turning to the next page, "Are you saying it's our fault?"

"I'm saying there may be a causality," Vision allowed a pause, it let them hang onto his words, "Our _very_ strength _invites_ challenge...challenge incites conflict. And conflict...breeds catastrophe."

Catastrophe. It was a word that sounded all too familiar to Wanda. She liked what Vision had to say, his words seemed calm and almost easy to sit with.

Vision continued, "Oversight...oversight is not an idea that can be dismissed out of hand."

"Boom," Rhodey turned to Sam, who still had his arms crossed.

"Mr Stark," Vision looked over at Tony, "You are being uncharacteristically non-hyper verbal."

"It's because he's already made up his mind," Steve told him.

Tony removed the hand from his face, "Boy, you know me so well."

He sat up slowly from his slouch, he winced, trying to ease the pain by scratching the back of his head, "Actually, I'm nursing an electromagnetic headache."

He got up, he dragged his legs to the kitchen, standing behind the polished counter.

"That's what's going on, Cap. It's just pain. It's discomfort," he grabbed himself a mug that stood upside on a tray to dry off - Steve had done the washing yesterday. He took a peek inside the garbage disposal, near the sink, "Who's putting coffee grounds in the disposal? Am I running a bed and breakfast for a biker gang?"

Wanda tangled her fingers into the sleeve of her cardigan, she was pretty sure she'd had a cup of coffee or two yesterday.

Tony brought out his phone, tucked in the back pocket of his silk trousers, he chucked it in the empty fruit basket, tapping it to show a holographic image of a young man.

He looked away from what he had done, pretending to find the image projected next to him, "Oh, that's Charles Spencer, by the way. He's a great kid. Computer Engineering Degree, 3.6 GPA...had a floor level gig at Intel planned for the fall."

Everyone was still silent, Wanda wasn't sure from their expressions whether it was to let Tony ramble or listen to what he had to say.

"But first, he wanted to put a few miles on his soul...before he parked it behind a desk, see the world. Maybe be of service. Charlie didn't want to Vegas or Fort Lauderdale which is what _I_ would do. He didn't go to Paris or Amsterdam, which sounds fun. _He_ decided to spend _his_ summer building sustainable housing for the poor, guess where? Sokovia."

Wanda's eyes fell to the floor again, she felt partly guilty. The Avengers wouldn't have needed to go to Sokovia if it weren't for her or Pietro...mainly her.

"He wanted to make a difference, I suppose," Ruffles from the packet of pills Tony popped was heard, "I mean, we won't know because we knocked him over while we were kicking ass."

Tony threw a pill into his mouth, digesting it with a swing of coffee as he approached the others again, "There is no decision-making process here. We need to be put in check! Whatever form that takes, I'm game. If we can't accept limitations, if we're boundary-less, we're _no_ better than the bad guys."

"Tony..." Steve sighed, "Someone dies on your watch, you don't give up."

"Who said we're giving up?"

"We _are_ if we're not taking responsibility for our actions...this document just shifts the blame."

When Tony and Steve talked, there was an invisible force that ran between them. They were the two leaders and the universe seemed to make it so that everything they each thought contradicted exactly what the other was thinking.

"I'm sorry, Steve," James turned, slightly shocked, "Tha-That is _dangerously_ arrogant. This is the _United Nations_ we're talking about. It's not the World Security Council, it's not S.H.I.E.L.D, it's not HYDRA."

"No," Steve interrupted, "But it's run with people with agendas, and agendas change."

"That's _good_ ," Tony pointed towards Cap, "That's why I'm here...when I realised what my weapons were capable of in the wrong hands. I shut it down and stopped manufacturing."

"Tony, you _chose_ to do that," He glanced down to the Accords, heavy on his lap, "If we sign this, we surrender our right to choose...what if this panel sends us somewhere we don't think we should go? What if there's somewhere we _need_ to go and they don't let us? We may not be perfect but the safest hands are still our own."

"If we don't do this now, it's gonna be done to us later. That's the fact...that won't be pretty."

"You're saying they'll come for me," Wanda piped up, finally. She was still wary of soldiers, she wasn't scared of them but scared of having to run, once again.

"We would protect you," Vision said, looking straight into Wanda's eyes and she had no option but to do the same as looked into his piercing blue eyes.

She felt something in the pit of her stomach as she did, she put together that Vision might have meant _he_ would protect her...

*

"Just tell me," Wanda huffed as she leant against the balcony of a window in the Avengers Facility, slowly turning around so her body was facing the same direction as her twin brother, who was standing beside her.

He took a tighter hold on the pole, which was restraining them from falling through the gap in the glass-paned floors and windows, "You won't like it."

"Wha..." Wanda mumbled in their language, taunting him to just tell her what he had seen, "I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want to know."

"Alright," Pietro looked defeated as he glanced at her warily, he ran a hand through his silver locks, "I saw Stephen."

"Okay," Wanda felt a wave of relief in her chest at hearing that the Doctor was safe, that was all she had really asked of Pietro to check for her.

However, he looked too concerned to just have seen him going through his usual boring regime of flipping through library books. Wanda had a sense of regret as she asked, "What else?"

"I saw him with another woman," Pietro watched Wanda's head drop, he wasn't certain if it was in disappointment, anger or confusion, "Around his age, they seemed pretty close."

Around his age. It was as if someone had given her a stab to the heart...like she was no longer good enough. She knew not to jump to wild conclusions, "Did they..."

"No, no," Pietro shook his head quickly, "They just seemed quite...affectionate. He did give her a few hugs, walk her down the road."

" _Oh_ , did she happen to be blonde, fairly short and wear a scarf with red and blue plaid?" Wanda asked. She had remembered Dr Palmer from Greer's shop.

"Yes," Pietro answered, he looked confused, "Why?"

"Nothing..." It wasn't nothing, "Just wondering."

"Well, that's not all," Pietro added, "I ran into another guy, inside. His name's..."

"Wong?" Wanda was listening, "How is he? What did he say?"

"He's fine. He told me where Strange had been, he's been trying to figure out a way for you to not _die_."

"Huh?"

"You don't know?"

"Know..." Wanda looked at him expectantly, he sighed before turning back to her, " _What_?"


	18. stubbornness, arrogance, ambition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay. stephen’s back now :)

**"THANK YOU FOR** everything, Christine," Stephen told his friend, releasing her from a hug, "I really...appreciate it."

They stood in the shadowy parlour of the Sanctum Sanctorum, light shone through the gaps of its antique, circular skylight and they could hear the faint sound of cars as they stood near the door. 

"It's alright," Christine ran a hand down his shoulder, smiling wistfully, "I know you and...Scarlett," she still doubted that that was her real name. "Have something."

"We've been taking it slow," Stephen admitted, "It's fairly casual at the moment."

"So, you're not planning for it to become...anything more?" Christine looked up at him, a sly smile on her face.

"I don't know," Stephen felt a blush creep up his cheeks, "We've shared these moments that make me wonder sometimes. She's an extraordinary young woman, but...I worry about her. Especially after what happened in the news."

Stephen was frantic about Wanda, he was extremely worried about what she was doing but then the first thing he heard was she pulled a stunt like that on the news.

It was definitely a contingency but he hadn't expected an incident to happen so soon when the last thing he had heard was she had learned to play 'Baba Black Sheep' on the guitar.

"Scarlett?" Christine's brows furrowed, "I don't recall seeing her name in the headlines, Scarlett...what was her last name again?"

Stephen sighed, he looked away to chuckle a little. He had forgotten how quick-witted Christine could be sometimes, especially when it came to dealing with him.

He gripped her shoulders before telling her, "Wanda Maximoff. That's her real name. I couldn't tell you..."

"Of course you couldn't," Christine laughed, the silence that followed it began to make it awkward quickly.

"Can I walk you to your car?" Stephen suggested, grabbing the door handle, "I've got to get going."

Christine nodded, she didn't know what she expecting, the life of Stephen Strange would always be a busy one. It was something any woman would have to learn to adapt to, which is why someone with no duty to save the world - like herself, couldn't understand.

"Of course."

*

Steam rose from the pot sitting on the hot stove of the kitchen in the Avengers tower, the light grey wisps drifted into the air as The Vision stirred the red, bubbling mixture he had created in the metal container.

The light tune of Chet Baker's 'I Fall In Love Too Easily' was left playing in the background, ironically; Vision was starting to evolve in a way no one suspected to be possible. It was the slightest moments that had made him wonder if he had feelings for a certain psionically enhanced woman...

He noticed how distraught she was after the whole incident in Nigeria, she wasn't telling anyone except Pietro, but he knew she needed a cheering up.

"A pinch of paprika," The Android read the paper, the small text printed on it detailed a recipe, "A pinch."

Wanda Maximoff strolled into the kitchen, hands dove into her pockets, the familiar spicy smell of food her mother used to make filled her nose, "Is that Paprikash?"

"I thought it might...lift your spirits," Vision explained, looking up to see her with a smile on her face as she walked to where he was, behind the counter.

She chuckled lightly, she stirred the ingredients in the pan before lifting the plastic spoon to her lips to taste the red saucy mixture, it tasted odd.

She was sure that whatever he'd done was incorrect but the look in his eyes when he spared her a glance made her want to spare his feelings - "Spirits lifted."

She stopped herself from laughing.

"In my defence," Vision looked to her eyes, embarrassed at his failed attempt, "I haven't actually ever...eaten anything before, so..."

"May I?" Wanda asked. It had been a while since she'd cooked anything Sokovian in the kitchen.

"Please," Vision took a step back, watching as she looked to the recipe and back at the pot, fixing his mistakes. "Wanda?"

"Hmm."

"No one dislikes you, Wanda," Vision said, he knew what he was trying to say, but she didn't. He lacked experience in human interactions. He sat on the other side of the table, on one of the cream-coloured high chairs.

"Thanks," Wanda frowned in confusion, she screwed the lid back onto the herbs container she was holding.

"Oh, you're welcome," He pointed to his head, "No, it's an involuntary response in their amygdala, they can't help but be afraid of you."

She sincerely doubted that, the people had a right to be scared, they had watched as she brutally killed Natasha Romanoff and continued to create chaos...however, she still didn't think it gave them the whole perspective of who she was.

"Are you?" Wanda asked, waiting for a response, she was scared to be disappointed with an answer of 'yes.'

"My amygdala is synthetic, so..."

Wanda let out a laugh, he joined in himself when he saw her beautiful smile. There was silence, Wanda took a moment to collect her thoughts before opening up, "I used to think of myself one way, but after this..."

She raised a hand, dancing with her fingers, the scarlet glow of her powers weaved through them, "I am something else. I can't help but think that everyone sees me as something different to what I actually am."

Vision turned away for a moment, then he touched the amber stone in his head softly, "Do you know, I don't know what this is? Not really. I know that it's not of this world, powered Loki's staff, gave you your abilities , but...it's true nature is a mystery. And yet, it is a part of me."

Wanda sensed his emotions, she had never read someone with their thought so open, so clear, "Are you afraid of it?"

"I wish to understand it," Vision clarified, "The more I do, the less it controls me. One day...who knows? I may even control it."

Wanda bounced on her feet, she stopped herself from getting dragged in too deep, she changed the topic, "I don't know what's in this," she pointed down to the pan, "but it is...not paprika."

"I'm gonna go to the store," Wanda said, "I'll be back in twenty minutes."

Vision was promptly on his feet, he glided in front of her with a whoosh of yellow waving down his body. "Alternatively, we could order a pizza?"

"Vision, are you not letting me leave?"

His eyes travelled to the ground, "It is a question of safety."

"I can protect myself," She smiled a little, she thought it was cute that he cared for her safety, attempting to move ahead to still be blocked by the android.

"Not yours," He placed a hand on her arm, she took a glance down, she figured it wasn't the worst, though his words changed the meaning of the action, "Mr Stark would like to avoid the possibility of another public incident. Until the Accords are on a...more secured foundation."

She twisted her head up, her gaze caught in his striking ocean eyes, "And what do you want?"

"For people to see you...as I do."

════▣◎▣════

 **AS WANDA MAXIMOFF** stared into the mirror, she wasn't even sure who she was looking at anymore.

She was staring at a dark facsimile of herself. Her hair had grown longer, became darker with age, her facial features more defined. The only thing that she truly recognised was her face.

And even then, it was no longer painted with goth-like makeup and dark lipstick that she liked to wear before...

Her breaths became short and quick as she tried to calm herself down, sweat glided down her forehead and she placed her hands down on the table to steady herself.

Wanda got panic attacks when she was stressed, it usually only happened when she was younger - before she got her powers. She didn't like having them, it reminded her of when she was naive, weak.

"You're not weak," The accent was American, anyone would have mistaken it for any typical New Yorker except Wanda knew from the distinctive, articulate tone in his voice exactly which one it was.

"Strange," Wanda felt her heart stop in her chest, "I thought we agreed not to read each other's minds?"

She turned around to face him, surprised to see he was wearing casual clothes. However, the surprise was quickly put aside to notice was how angry he was, he was fuming.

His arms were crossed as he stood by the door, his bright eyes were cold and grey, "And I thought we were at least trying to have some sort of trust between us."

"We are," Wanda walked behind him, his gaze following her as she closed the door.

"Then why did I see quick blue streaks following me around all morning?" Stephen had noticed Pietro Maximoff's trail around the streets, zooming past a few miles away from him as he walked Christine to her car.

Wanda was caught and so were her words in her throat; she struggled to think of what to say, "I wanted to know where you were, I was worried, and...you can imagine my relief when I hear that you've been with Christine Palmer the whole time."

Stephen scoffed, "Are you jealous, Maximoff? I assure you, Christine and I's relationship is solely amicable."

"Ah, so you give all your friends passionate hugs?"

"Passionate is an overstatement," Stephen had uncrossed his arms, using them to exaggerate his point, "Can't say the same for you and Vision."

"What about him?" Wanda stared straight into his eyes, she was baffled he even knew, "Vizh and I barely even know each other."

"But you've gotten to, right?" She could spot the smug smile on the edge of his lips, "He likes you."

"Oh come on, we're just friends!" Wanda cried out in frustration, running a hand over her head. 

"You call him Vizh! What is that?" Stephen started to get loud too, the room was mostly filled with their shouts.

"A nickname."

"A nickname? Oh Jesus, Wanda, he's not even a real person!"

"How dare you say that," Wanda knew Vision was a person, he was one of the most decent ones she had ever met, "He is."

"So, you're fucking him then? Is that it?" Stephen spat, only asking in hopes it wasn't true.

"No!" Wanda shook her head, "Of course not!"

"He doesn't even have genitalia..." Stephen raised an eyebrow, "Does he?"

"I..." Wanda tried to think about the logistics of it all, it was probably a definite no.

"Exactly."

"That doesn't matter."

"What can he offer you that I can't?" Stephen waited for an answer, his heart pounded in his chest, was she seriously considering this?

"Love, support, trust and oh yeah, he's actually here most of the time," Wanda hadn't even thought about these things herself, she didn't even know she had these kinds of feelings for Vision, "And what could you offer me?"

"Well, isn't obvious? Emotional aside..." Stephen was close to her now, she could feel his breath on her face, she forced her eyes not to travel further, forced herself not to tell him to 'shut up,' and just kiss her - she was supposed to be angry, "An actual dick for starters..."

"Relationships don't require you sticking your genitalia in someone to work," Wanda sounded hesitant, almost as if she was convincing herself.

"I know you don't believe that." Wanda felt her heart pound, was he still reading her mind?

"Why would you think that?"

"Because it didn't when you were with me."

"What?"

"Come on, Maximoff," Stephen groaned, "You were very nearly on begging to sleep with me..."

"Are you serious?" She was angry now, she clenched together her fists, calming the streams of red she felt building up in her palms, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You wanted to take my pants off in the streets, Maximoff," Stephen was clearly just as enraged as she was, "I think that shows some level of desperation."

"I was half-drunk!" Wanda shouted, "Okay, but you knew that. This isn't about that, this is about you. How you have been lying to me about everything, ever since we met."

"I..." His Adam's apple bobbed in his throat, "It's complicated."

"Yeah, tell me about," Wanda said, "I actually thought we were starting to..."

"Starting to what?"

"Never mind..." Wanda held a hand on her head, "You told me when we met that you keep a watch list of threats to this world, right?"

"Yes," Stephen stood in the same place, not wanting to enrage her any further by trying to touch her.

"So, why shouldn't I believe that the only reason you decided to find me in the first place was to make sure you did the job yourself?"

Wanda felt her eyes water when he avoided contact with him, he ducked his head, his curls fell down onto his forehead, he let out a long sigh, "I was only trying to help."

"Then how is everything somehow..." Wanda's voice broke, "Worse?"

"I told you...it will get better," Stephen placed a hand on her shoulder, "With time."

"I've waited enough time," Wanda was being stubborn, that was a personality trait usually reserved for Stephen, "I don't see how this can get any better. This an end, I'm done."

"You're done?" Stephen scoffed in disbelief, "That's it? You're just going to throw away everything we've done! All the training we've went through-"

"It doesn't matter, Stephen!" She stood at the doorway, back turned to him, "It doesn't matter..."

"Wanda?" His voice made her stop in her tracks, "Stay safe."

She didn't even turn around, he was left looking at her curled hazel tresses, getting the view of her clothes from behind - a simple black skirt, with long socks and boots. He had memorised every inch of her body.

He could perceive the noise of her considering answering, maybe even turning back to give him a kiss or a hug, anything at all.

But she didn't.


	19. they say that we’re out of control

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pietro and Steve. That’s all for now.

**TONY FOUND STEVE** staring through the glass window, it separated the office area from where there were screens, in the control room, images of the Winter Soldier played on them, footage of the holding cell he was in playing in black and white.

He was still left wondering if there was any way Bucky remembered him, knew who he was or even had the slightest bit of good left in him.

"Hey, you wanna see something cool?" Tony approached him, his grey blazer tucked over his arm, he shook a black rectangular box in his hand, "I pulled something from Dad's archives. Felt timely."

Steve took a seat on the wooden conference table and watched as he lifted the lid, revealing two shiny, well-kept pens inside, they looked expensive. "FDR signed the Lend-Lease bill with these in 1941, provided support to the allies when they needed it most."

Tony placed them on the table next to Steve, he knew what Tony was trying to do, it would be an understatement to say that they didn't share the same views politically, "Some would say it brought our country closer to war."

"See? If not for these, you wouldn't be here. I'm trying to...what do you call it? That's an olive branch. Is that what you call it?" Tony sat on the chair opposite him.

"Is Pepper here? I didn't see her," Steve asked, changing the subject, looking over, as if she would be there.

"We're kinda...well not kinda."

"Pregnant?" Steve asked, hoping he had started on that simple life they had once talked about.

"No. Definitely not," Tony wasn't ready for that kind of commitment, he didn't know if it would ever be safe for him to bring a child into his world - where so many things could go wrong. "We're taking a break, it's nobody's fault."

"I'm so sorry, Tony. I didn't know."

"A few years ago, I almost lost her, so I trashed all my suits. Then we had to mop up HYDRA and...then Natasha. My fault. And then, and then, and then, I never stopped. Creating Vision...because the truth is I don't want to stop. I don't want to lose her. I thought maybe the Accords could split the difference."

Tony rose from the chair, leaning back to bounce off it, he paced around the room, "In her defence, I'm a handful. Yet, Dad was a pain in the ass, but he and Mom always made it work..."

He talked about Howard as if they both referred to him as 'Dad,' like they were brothers...

"You know I'm glad Howard got married," Steve smiled, "I knew him when he was young and single."

"Oh, really? You two knew each other?" Tony used a tone of fake surprise, "He never mentioned that, maybe only a...thousand times. God, I hated you."

Tony adjusted the pull of his collar as he entered his blazer, picking it off the chair. "I don't mean to make things difficult," Steve said, finally going back to the topic they had mutually avoided.

"I know because your a very polite person."

"If I see a situation going south, I can't avoid it. Sometimes I wish I could."

"No you don't," Tony corrected.

Steve's eyes flickered from the floor back to Tony's face, "No, I don't. Sometimes..."

"Sometimes I want to punch you in your perfect teeth," Tony said, "But I don't want to see you gone. We need you, Cap. So far nothing's happened that can't be undone, if you sign. We can make the last 24 hours legit. Barnes gets transferred to an American psych centre...instead of a Wakandan prison."

Steve frowned, picking up one of the fountain pens, he fiddled with it, rolling it around in his fingers. He was still going through it. He stood up, turning to Tony, "I'm not saying it's impossible, but there would have to be safeguards."

"Sure," Tony said, "Once we put out the PR fire, those documents can be amended...I file a motion to have you, Pietro and Wanda reinstated."

"Pietro and Wanda? What about 'em?"

"They're fine, they're confined to the compound currently. Vision and Strange are keeping them company, or at least Strange was."

"Oh God, Tony," Steve turned, "Every time, every time I think you see things the right way..."

"It's a hundred acres with a lap pool, it's got a screening room," Tony said, he had taken Steve's seat, "There are worse ways to protect people."

Steve couldn't believe what he was hearing, he knew the last thing Wanda needed was to feel more isolated from the world. What Pietro felt was something he was still trying to work out...

"Protection? Is this how you see this? It's internment, Tony."

"Wanda's not a US citizen and they don't grant visas to weapons of mass destruction!"

"Oh, come on, Tony!" Steve shouted, "She's a kid!"

"Gimme a break!" Tony huffed, "I'm doing what needs to be done...to stave off something worse."

*

"Captain," Pietro's thick-accented, smooth voice came up behind Steve, he was snapped out of his thoughts immediately as he turned around to see the young man approach him.

"Everything alright, Maximoff?" Steve's eyes were laced with concern, they became softer as Pietro greeted him with a smile, "What are you doing here?"

Pietro had caught Cap before he ran off to where they were holding Barnes, it felt right to have a chat with him. Sort some things out, he could tell that he was running.

"Everything's fine," Pietro stood in front of Rogers, his eyes scanned the man's face, his perfectly shaped lips - they looked soft and warm, his gaze jumped down to his cut chest. "I heard you'd be here. Just wondering...how you're doing?"

"I'm doing..." Steve sighed, "I've done better."

"This must be complicated," Pietro placed a hand on his shoulder, gripping the muscles on it, "Having Peggy just die, needing to make a decision this heavy. I'd run..."

"Running tends to leave things out of control."

Pietro shrugged, "It's the way I'd normally go."

Steve eyed him, watched as his words seemed to mean something else when he stared back at him, "You tend to run from a lot of things?"

"Most things. When I get scared, or get angry, but that was mostly before...it's one of the reasons I got these specific abilities, I think."

"What of Wanda?" Steve's eyes floated to the wall ahead of him, Pietro's gazes getting too much to handle.

"Ah, she tends to over think things. Likes to take the time to try and reveal everything about someone."

"She seemed to get along with the Doctor pretty quickly."

"Yeah," Pietro shook his head wittingly, " I know, she's different with him, I guess."

Pietro had noticed a significant change in Wanda's attitude after coming back, she seemed to have a lot less on her mind then before. He knew what it was like to tug onto her after the most severe of breakdowns, he was just glad she was more confident in herself now, even if it was a small change. And, even if it took Strange to encourage it...

"I always tried my best to stay the same...with Peggy."

"She meant a lot to you, yes? Maybe I can fill a void," Pietro lifted his hand to Steve's shoulder, the soldier watching carefully as he did.

Steve wasn't blind, or stupid, he knew that Pietro was trying to make some sort of advances on him. He was still yet to decide whether his intentions were sexual or not but if it was - he wasn't in the mood. Not to mention the prominent age gap between them that stirred him more than anything else, he didn't know how Strange did it.

Steve's eyes opened, realisation dawning over him, "Kid, I think your reading too far into this relationship. I don't mean to give you the wrong signals or anything but I don't even think I'm ready for this sort of thing. I'm sorry but I-I've got to go."

════▣◎▣════

 **WANDA MAXIMOFF SQUEEZED** as much as she could into the medium-sized black suitcase lying on her bed, the room has several mountains of discarded clothes sprawled along the floor - items that proved unnecessary.

Running away was something that she considered as natural now, just a year ago she had been making her way through the streets. There wasn't any reason she couldn't again.

The only sound her ears were interested in was the one of clothes being thrown around her room, which is why she was oblivious when the sound of Vision entering her room by way of phasing shocked her.

"Oh my god, Vizh!" Wanda held a hand to her chest, "How many times have I got to tell you..." She twisted her head around the suitcase, finding the zip which she slid around the case, closing the bag.

She lifted the luggage off of the bed, dragging it along, past the shell-shocked Android and into the kitchen halls nearby.

"Ms Maximoff?" Vision called after her, smoothly rushing towards her with a golden gleam of light, his feet above the floor as he floated.

"Vision, I'm leaving," She sighed dropping the luggage to turn to him, a somewhat irritated look on her face.

"What do you mean?" Pietro had sped into the room, a blur rushing past them before he was noticed, "You're leaving? Are you serious right now?"

It was late, she was hoping to avoid Pietro's pleads, she knew he had done out but coincidentally he had only decided to come back when it wasn't the right time.

"Look, Pietr-" Wanda began to try and calm him, there was no real way to explain correctly. They all jumped as an explosion flashed in the distance, fiery lights reflecting on the window. Vision glided to the window, inspecting it carefully. "What is it?"

"Stay here, please," Vision warned the twins, he left them alone in the room.

There was a small twitch, a slight creak in the floorboards sent Wanda's eyes straight to the wooden knife rack, throwing the sharp object to the person's head. Her heart rested as she caught the sight of Clint Barton, "Oh my god, what are you doing here?"

"Wait..." Pietro tried to contain the smile on his face, "Aren't you retired?"

"Yes, but instead I'm disappointing my kids," Clint's hands raised, extending the bow in his hands, shooting two arrows opposite sides of the room, no one taking much notice of it. "I'm supposed to go water-skiing. Cap needs our help, come on." Clint nodded to Pietro and Wanda to follow along.

"Clint!" Vision's voice put a pause on everything, "You should not be here?"

"What? I retire for all of ten minutes and it all goes to shit?"

"Please consider the consequences of your actions."

Clint turned his head, acting as he was going through the thought process for a second, "Okay, they're considered. Okay, we gotta go."

Clint had known that Vision wouldn't back down without a fight, he waited for the arrows he had planted to do their job, their purpose finally revealed.

Pietro couldn't deny that he felt an inkling of a something for Steve Rogers and it only seemed to burn inside him with each passing day. He wasn't entirely sure whether it was purely unresolved sexual tension from training days, flashes of the Captain holding him down by the throat proved to be somewhat erotic...

Wanda, however, was going through an entirely different train of thoughts. She still wanted to make a break for it, everything just seemed to go wrong for her. Who was to say she wouldn't mess it all up again? Invoke another tragedy?

Pietro walked along with Clint, Hawkeye noticed the presence of Wanda was missing beside them, "It's this way."

Wanda scrunched her nose, sniffing in the air, her gaze averted, "I think I've done enough. You should go without me."

Clint frowned, he wasn't going to watch her doubt herself any longer, let guilt drown her where it didn't need to, "You gotta help me, Wanda. Look you wanna mope, you go to high school. You want to make amends, you get off your ass."

"Guys," Pietro alerted them as Vision was released from his electrified containment, "Might wanna speed things up."

"Shit," Clint cursed as Vision marched towards him, sending him to the floor with a punch.

He recovered quickly, reaching a hand behind his back, grabbing a baton and extending it with a quick flourish of his wrist, "I knew I should've stretched."

Pietro held Wanda's shoulder, "Hey, what's going on with you?"

"I'm..." Wanda sighed, "Are we seriously going to do this? Don't you care about what will happen?"

"Of course I do, but do you seriously want to stay on Stark's side?"

"I mean, I'm not exactly ecstatic about going rogue again either. Pietro, we really do need to consider our actions here..."

"I have. You don't get it, I want to be on the right side. I'm not running anymore...apart from actually running, of course."

They peered over at Hawkeye, who was now trapped in a headlock by The Vision, "Clint, you can't overpower me..."

"I know, but she can..." Clint's eyes said more than Wanda needed to hear, she jumped into actions, hands glowing with red as she separated them, taking control of the entity in his head...

She felt it's power, it felt as if she was controlling it or at least, Vision, pulling him down into the floor, his amplified weight crushing him into the marble surface below.

Vision's muscles tensed, he struggled against the  
pull of the mind stone, but as they both knew - he couldn't control it. "If you do this...they will never stop being afraid of you."

Wanda winced as she pushed him further into the ground, "I can't control their fear," her hands drew further apart, "only my own." She impelled him into the ground, controlling the string of energy she had created, making sure he was sent flying as far down as she could send him.

Pietro and Clint peered over the hole she had created in the ground. Clint felt a tad sorry for the damage to the building, "Oh, come on. We've got one more stop."

"Already on it," Pietro picked up his sister in a clean swoop, "Keep up, old man."


	20. when we fight, we fight like lions

**THE YOUNG SOKOVIANS** gave each other glances, both of a distasteful nature. Pietro was angry at his younger sister, how could she be willing to leave him like that?

"I said I'm sorry, Pietro," Wanda attempted to strike conversation with her brother, she placed a hand on his shoulder - her hand was quickly sped away.

"Actually, you didn't."

"Well," Wanda placed a hand on his shoulder again, squeezing it tightly so he wouldn't move, "I am."

"Just don't get yourself injured out there," Pietro staggered to his feet as the sound of a car screeched next to them.

He was previously crouched in the van, Scott Lang was beside him on the seats - fast asleep, it was getting boring waiting in there. Wanda had called shotgun. 

The twins hopped out of the grey vehicle, there was a cacophony of car doors slamming while Sam Wilson and Steve Rogers crawled out of their blue mini.

"Cap," Clint walked towards the Captain, his hands extended to him.

"You know I wouldn't have called if I didn't have a choice," Steve shook his former teammate's hand.

"Hey man, you're doing me a favour," His head gestured towards the Maximoffs, "Besides...I owe a debt." Pietro had still saved his life.

"Thanks for having my back," Steve faced Wanda.

She crossed her arms, a smile on her face as she turned to Hawkeye, joking of something he didn't know, "It was time to get off my ass."

"Pietro?" Steve's eyes crossed over to him, "I'm glad you came."

"Of course," Pietro didn't take Steve's rejection to heart, "I've always got your back, Rogers."

════▣◎▣════

**STEPHEN STRANGE KNEW** exactly where he would find Wanda Maximoff, there was only a few places she knew in the city besides his Sanctum and Avengers HQ.

Plus, he knew that she wouldn't have left because she would have been stopped by one of the other Avengers. She wanted to go rogue, so she would be either in the streets or...in Germany.

"You sure she'll be there?" Wong asked, he held a ancient spell book in his hand as he walked behind Stephen who was hurriedly getting suited.

"She has to be, she has no where else to go," Stephen said, the Cloak of Levitation wrapped around his neck, settling down his back in a flourish.

"Will she speak to you?"

"I don't know, that's what I'm going to find out."

"Are you guys even still...together?"

Stephen's feet stopped, his chest raised as he took a slow breath, "I...don't know."

He raised his hands, swirling them into a circle, the ring on his fingers creating a blazing portal, he entered trough it swiftly to see a scene on the other side.

Wanda Maximoff was indeed exactly where he knew she would be, she stood in Leipzig-Halle airport, the display behind her making it perfectly clear whose side she had chosen as she threw cars towards the others, who were dodging them.

Flames flooded the scenery, turned over cars, he watched as her hands sparked with bright red, taking ahold of a car, throwing it towards War Machine, he dodged it effectively.

He couldn't believe she'd been so reckless to choose the Captain's side, she was under enough government castigation. However, he had better things to focus himself on then politics, and quite frankly, so did she.

"I need you to come with me," Stephen didn't make it a question, "We need your help, Wanda."

Wanda's head turned, in mock confusion, a playful smile on her lips, almost finding it funny he showed up, "You need my help? I don't trust you."

"I don't need you to trust me, I just need you," Stephen held his fists together, his nails scratched the inside of his palms, his lips held together firmly - expectation for something great written all over his face.

It seemed childish to him that she would discard the most intimate of moments they shared together. He thought she cared enough about him to stay. Oh.

"This won't end well for you, Maximoff."

She didn't say anything else, turning away from him. He watched from a distance as she walked away, turning her back on not only him but his feelings for her. The inside of him broke as she ignored his words, like she was forgetting everything that happened between them when she turned around.

"Hey! Who are you?" Sam Wilson sped towards the Doctor, Strange held out his hands, creating a portal for Falcon to fly through, sending him flying out the other direction - away from him.

She ran towards the action, spotting Vision had sliced through a control tower, sending it crashing down where Steve and Bucky where running towards.

Her powers were promptly in action, red beams glowing to hold the building upward, allowing them to run ahead into the entrance, where the Quinjet was...

Stephen lifted himself off his feet, his cape carrying him carefully to the roof. He ran across the walls, pushing directly against the pull of Wanda's telekinesis, trying to push the tower further down.

Pietro was the only one to spot a sneaky Black Panther on the side, running to the entrance of the hangar with them, he sped quickly, holding T'Challa back with a few blue accented punches, the wisps disappearing as he kept him from moving with several hits. His speed allowed him to catch the appreciative nod Steve gave him, though he wouldn't be able to catch the smile he sent back.

The battle between the two didn't last long before War Machine glided by, knocking her to the ground with sonic waves, they circled her body, sending shocks to her brain. His efforts were in vain, however because the super soldiers still ran through, the gap being just big enough.

"Aah!" Wanda held her ears, the blast going straight into her head, causing her head to ache.

Strange's head snapped around, he landed next to her as soon as she fell, catching her softly, his hands touched her lower back, a place that reminded her of his hands on her hips...for other reasons. He caught the catch in her breath, moving his hands slowly upwards.

"Are you okay?" His eyes searched for any scratches on her, even though there wouldn't be.

She took a deep breath as she felt the ringing in her ears slow down, she was forced to stare straight back into his eyes. "Yes, thank you."

"Wanda..." He recomposed his sentence, getting straight to the point "Forgive me."

"Me too," He helped her to her feet, lending her a hand, "I might have overreacted."

She held his shoulder, using it to steady herself, he supported it with a hand on her waist, it was then he noticed that she was wearing the suit he had gotten for her. "Come with me?"

Wanda looked for Pietro, he was still a few metres away, getting tangled in the giant Ant-Man scenario that was happening behind them, "I can't just leave him again."

There was a blue wave and Pietro stood next to them, he placed his hands on the two of them, still catching his breath from running. "Look, Wanda, go with him."

"No, I can't. I have to stay with you, you can't be alone. They're going to take you-"

"I'll be fine," Pietro's words reassured her, "You gave up some of your freedom for me, it's about time I do the same."

Stephen drew the portal in front of them, the wail of sirens blared in the distance, helicopters chuffed above them, Wanda's head lifted to the sky.

"They'll take you away," Wanda told him, clutching onto his shoulders, "I can't just let them capture you."

"I'm too fast for them anyways," Pietro winked, "Go, get out of here with the old man before I change my mind."

"I'm sorry," Wanda grabbed ahold of his arm, tugging on it, pulling him into a hug.

Pietro fell into it for a moment, enjoying the embrace of his sister before the blare of sirens snapped him out of the fleeting moment, "Go."

And it was only seconds as Wanda ran inside the blazing circle, following Stephen Strange, who had saved her from the clutches imprisonment once again.


	21. there you go, saving me from out of the dark

**STEPHEN AND WANDA** walked through to the other side, the portal closed on the airport on its other side, leading to the Leipzig-Halle Airport sealed shut with an orange spark.

The Sanctum Sanctorum was protected with a spell, shielding its outside image from the world. She would be safe there from any authorities, he made sure of that.

They were met by Wong on the other side, his hands crossed around a book, an antagonising expression on his face. "Ms Wanda," Wong nodded towards her, "It's nice to see you again."

Wanda laughed a little, walking towards the sorcerer, "You don't look too happy to see me."

"Well," Wong paused, choosing his next words wisely, "I didn't think you'd come, besides I'm not exactly thrilled to become a second-rate Jarvis to a war criminal."

"Thanks for helping, Wong," Stephen said, "You didn't have to do this."

"No, it's alright," Wong turned, making his way to the other room, "I guess I kind of missed the songs of you two interrupting my Beyoncé with your love-making."

Wanda's cheeks tinged a little red, "Good thing he won't be hearing that anymore."

"So, this is a mutual agreement to put a pause on this thing?" Stephen's heart sank as the words they both didn't want to hear left his lips. They knew it was for the best.

"Yes," Wanda nodded and their heads slowly turned away from each other, she headed towards the stairs, the path to her room already replaying in her mind as she touched the railing.

Stephen walked along, he called up the staircase, "Bright and early tomorrow! We've got stuff to learn."

"Got it," She smiled to herself as she placed another foot on the step above. A warm feeling of nostalgia waved over her as she arrived at her old room door, small and boxy, it oddly felt like home...

*

"Okay," Stephen held her waist, she felt the softness in his fingers, trying to make it less awkward than it was to have them in the position. "Now move your body sideways."

The Doctor was showing her the correct position to stand, his hands glided to her arms, pushing them up in front of her. The feeling was so familiar, the words they wanted to say were left unspoken as they simply placed everything that had happened between them to one side. 

Wanda spread out her fingers, "So...like this?"

"Yes," She detected the proudness in his voice, his words so close to her ear, "Exactly like that."

"One leg forward," He gestured to her feet, now standing in front of her, "Head up high, eyes up. There we go, good girl."

Another pound in her chest. She immediately dropped the position, "You're just trying to make this really hard, aren't you?"

His face remained serious, not a single hint of a smirk, except his damned eyes, their green-blue hue sparkling with playfulness. "I'm not doing anything, Ms Maximoff."

"Cut the bullshit and the Ms Maximoffs," She snapped, "I'm not going to do this if all you're doing is be a tease."

"Oh, really?" Stephen asked, presenting a challenge, "I'd like to see you teach me a few things."

"Oh, there's a lot I can teach you, Strange," Wanda's lips were curved into a smug smile as her eyes wandered around his body, "It would definitely start with that ridiculous hairstyle."

"Ridiculous?" Stephen looked offended, she could still tell he was speaking jokingly, "What's wrong with my hairstyle?"

"You know it makes you look...fucking stupid," Wanda's flirtatious tone crumbled, she hid her face, hands over her eyes. "This is so fucking stupid..."

She paced around the room, non-native rambles pouring out of her lips at high speed, he could hear her breathing rise as crouched onto the floor.

When she closed her eyes she could hear people's screams, Pietro's wide eyes staring at her, guilt prodded at her for leaving him again.

All of her emotions fell to the floor in front of him, crumbling. He was the only one she would let see her this vulnerable.

She felt like she couldn't see anything but darkness until his hand touched her back, his hand massaging it soothingly. "It's okay, Wanda, everything is okay."

He grunted a little as her arms clutched onto him, clinging at him in a hug. She spoke softly, so softly he could barely hear it, "Thank you."

"You don't need to thank me," Stephen pulled her closer, "Everything will be okay."

Wanda didn't even need to look at him to know he was smiling at her as she clutched at his stupid hair, she felt the scent of his skin when she nuzzled her nose into his neck and somehow...she believed him.

"How about we go somewhere, huh?" Stephen's voice echoed behind her neck, "Just you and me, as friends of course."

"Okay," Wanda nodded and she let out a little laugh, "I guess you do give your friends affectionate hugs."

"I guess I do," Stephen replied with a weak smile.

════▣◎▣════

**THE ESTRANGED COUPLE** sat on parallel sides of a poorly cleaned table, breadcrumbs from the last costumer's encounter were still lying on there, discarded as Wanda's arms dragged across the table.

They sat in silence, allowing the sounds of their thoughts and the cars outside to drown out any relevant topic of conversation. 

He knew what he thought, he was thinking that he already missed their old relationship, it wasn't easy to look into those wide, green eyes and pretend they had always just been friends or 'co-workers' or whatever they were...

"So, is this the place you take your women?" Wanda's eyes drifted to the damp ceiling, "It could use some repairs, it looks like shit."

"Hey," Stephen scolded, "Get your hands off the table. And no, I needed to pick somewhere we both haven't been before."

"Oh, so this is the best you could do?" Wanda's eyes glinted with a hint of impishness, "The coffee better be good."

Stephen couldn't continue in idle conversation any longer, he circled the room, distracting himself with the mundane interactions around them.

"Strange...are you okay?" She snapped him out of it when the waitress came back to their table, setting her coffee and his tea on the table.

"Wanda..." He took another watchful sweep around the room, he rose from the chair, sliding into the booth she was in. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder casually, leaning in to whisper before she could argue with what he was doing.

She sat awkwardly behind her cup of coffee as his voice floated around her body from her ears, "Don't worry. We're still friends, I just need to tell you this in a way so they won't hear us."

"Oh," Wanda felt her cheeks blush, she felt stupid for thinking it was anything else, "What's...going on?"

"Don't freak out," Stephen his teeth flashed in a smile, "Just pretend to laugh."

"You're really creeping me out, Strange," Wanda's eyes widened, wandering into his eyes, amusement shining in them as she wondered if he was crazy.

"Shh...okay, this café isn't filled with customers, there are S.H.I.E.L.D agents," Stephen dragged his saucer, with his cup of tea to her side, "We need to get out of here."

"Are you joking?" Wanda took a glance around the room again, only noticing now how everyone was behaving, majority of them sported shades and sat in a formal position, looking stiff. "What do we do?"

"Behind us..." The Sorcerer swore he heard the faint sound of a gun cock in the room, "That guy is armed, so are the ones on the far right and left."

"Think there are any civilians?"

"I doubt it," Stephen watched her stare idly into the table, more things on her mind than having to get into action right then - she was already thinking about what would happen next. "We have to get out of here."

"Have any idea where we'll go?" Wanda pressed the cup to her mouth again, having another sip of hot coffee.

"Don't worry about it, it'll be fine," His eyes flickered in hers, he was trying his best not to make it awkward but he pushed a stray hair out of her face. She tried her best to ignore it as she placed the cup back on the table gently.

"I didn't get to finish my coffee, so I don't know about that," Wanda let out a breathy sigh before she raised her hands up into the air, a blurry flash of red hit the pale man behind them as a stream raised her onto the table, creating a shield to block the gunfire that came their way. She looked over at Stranger, behind her, hands digging into his pockets, "Pick up the pace."

His wrists crossed, bright sparks flickered from them and he was in his navy tunic, the golden necklace around his neck, the cape curling behind him. "Getting there, Maximoff," He breath out before sending a bolt to the men in front of him, knocking them to the floor with haste, giant encrypted circles then appearing, slashing onto those who had run up to him.

Screams followed, the civilians they didn't expect ran out of the shop, the creaky door sounding every time someone ran out.

Wanda held back a soldier attacking in hand-to-hand combat, she was crouched down her back, holding his heavy punch away from her face with the swirling red energy roped around the burly man's wrists. She grunted as she sent him flying into the wall, "We've gotta get out of here, Strange!"

Stephen nodded as he swung the whip around three others, he pushed the ones standing near the door away, a gust of murky wind knocking them aside. He checked on the young woman to see her tangled in a circle of agents, trying to send blasts to them at all sides, "Wanda," he rose himself on the table, his hands expanded, he duplicated around them, sparks fled to their feet, sending them tumbling to the ground.

He lifted her off the ground with an arm, wrapping it around hers to hoist her off the ground, "Almost lost you there..."

"Don't be stupid," A meek smile placing itself on her lips, she tapped on his arm, her head nodded to the door, "We gotta go..."

"Yes," Stephen led her out of the shop, running out of the shop, he turned to her, "We're about to go into hiding, for a long time. I know we aren't exactly...friends. Do you want to come with me?"

Wanda ran a hand down his arm, stopping at his hand, intertwining her fingers with his, "Come on, do your swirly thing and let's get out of here."


	22. to save lives, not take them

**PIETRO MAXIMOFF HADN'T** seen the point in wanting to go on the run, which surprised himself as he was a man who liked to move extremely fast. And, running away at lighting speed was pretty much a personality trait for him now.

Although, while he was sitting in the dark, alone with nothing but the handcuffs his arms chained together, black metal, locked electrically — the only light from the twinkling beeping of the lock, letting him know it was still alive - ready to shock him at any minute, in a scenario where he would attempt to escape.

He looked to the ceiling, the same grey walls around him in the dark, he was definitely starting to feel claustrophobic. It reminded him of his days as one of Strucker's experiments, ropes instead of cuffs, the burns they would create aching where they would be now on his wrists. All of a sudden, the memories of Strucker brought more disturbing thoughts into his mind...

Ones of Strucker himself and his head knocked on a wall, blood spilling down it, his parents dying, their limbs being shot away in an explosion and Wanda, everything he hoped wouldn't happen to her poked at his mind like a knife - telling him he'd made a mistake. He hoped she could read him from wherever he was.

Tears fell down his face, his temper always failed him, crying befell him when the emotion became too much to handle. He wanted to clutch his legs but the containment around them prevented much movement, that and the fact that he felt too weak to move at all, tucked against the wall in a small ball.

They barely gave him any food, so little that he had come to the conclusion that it must be scraps from the others, the idiots were told to keep his metabolism down to make him slower, it worked.

He jumped as he heard the small creak of the gate, the door to their cell block opening for another time, the other times being the visit from Tony Stark and meals...

Pietro looked up to see a smiling face in front of him, his emotions changed, his heart softened as he adjusted to the view of the person in front of him. Blue eyes stared back into his, a warm smile on their face. "Are you okay, kid?"

"Rogers..." A wave of heat fell over him, he looked like shit, "I don't need you to see me like this."

"I don't mind," Steve chuckled, "I'm sure I've looked a lot worse. Besides, the room service isn't exactly five stars."

"I doubt you've ever looked worse," Pietro's smirk had returned to his face, glad he hadn't run away, "So, you're getting me out of here, no?"

"Let's get you some food, kid," Steve nodded, his cheeks already warm from Pietro's teasing, it was going to be hard to keep him at bay now that he had to hide him away.

════▣◎▣════

 **A KALEIDOSCOPE OF** colour graced the shops lined the streets, neon lights stood tall along the roads, grey wisps of smoke from warm food wafted into the air, the flavour filling noses. The skyline was filled with lights, shining like stars in the dark of the night.

The wind blew through the city, its inhabitants wore scarves, hats and gloves, all in different combinations, winter only starting to emerge. The cold hadn't fully washed over the country, most of the winter accessories worn were a fashion statement.

There was barely space to stop as crowds flooded streets, the place was bustling, even in the time of the month, but as they walked the pavements, the two foreigners still had time to stop, facing each other under a street light.

Doctor Stephen Strange wasn't under that much of a disguise, the search for them had died down after a few weeks, his neck was protected by a scarf, it hung around his neck, a bleak grey to stand out against the long black cashmere overcoat he had on. The older man rested an arm on the post, looking down at the woman in front of him, "Are you sure you've got enough comfort under that hat of yours, Ms Maximoff?"

"I think I'm fine," Wanda Maximoff smiled up at the brown-haired man opposite her, his shoulders entrapping her.

Her mother's ring was around her finger, the one she used to push hair scratching her brows, nearing her eyes, "You okay with the little scarf your wearing," she twisted the clothing around his neck, adjusting it, "Don't want you to get a cold, do we?"

Stephen let out a soft chuckle, shooting a look into the busy city ahead before his eyes pierced back into hers, her heart leapt. "Stop changing the subject...are you sure you aren't wearing that beanie to hide a certain head of hair under there?"

He snatched at her hat, she dodged his hand, clutching onto the woolly material, " _Hey,_ stop that!"

" _I'm not changing my hair_ she said..." Stephen mocked her, bringing up the contradictory words that had left her lips before, a smirk presented itself on his lips.

"Oh, shut up," Wanda pulled at the scarf around his neck, "You know I didn't have a choice. Besides, someone told me I looked good in this colour." Her fingers toyed with the fringes.

"Bright orange?" Stephen brushed a few light strands over her shoulder, "Are you sure you didn't get this colour for other reasons? Maybe...a redhead agent, perhaps?"

"I wasn't even thinking of that," _Romanoff_. That actually wasn't one of the reasons she had chosen the colour but it felt a little heartwarming to know she had paid respect in some sort of way.

"I'm sorry," Stephen's hands dropped from her shoulders, "I didn't think..."

"No," Wanda shook her head, " _No_ , it's fine. I'm way past all that, I guess I just needed time to see that it wasn't the only

"Do you see that losing my hands didn't have to be the end but it could be a beginning?" His hands held her face, fingers ran along her cheek.

It was all very loving, she didn't even care it breached their agreement. How she saw him before was somehow changed, he taught her more than just spells, he had taught her how to open up to someone again, he'd saved her heart from nothingness.

There was a brief moment where she considered Vision could do the same but now, standing in front of him, the rest of the world went by and it felt like it was only them. He was the only one she needed.

"Yes," She answered and as he watched her smile, he paid attention to the beating in his chest.

Wanda had changed his views on everything he knew, well, she had taught him more or less on how to love. She made his less than normal world even more chaotic and he, by some means, loved her for it.

He asked again, a matching satisfied smile on his face, "Yeah?"

"Yes," Wanda repeated, she grabbed his hand, intertwining their fingers, "Let's go to the store. I still need to get some things..."

"Again?" Stephen groaned, still letting her pull him along, "Didn't we go yesterday? You keep taking us into places with cameras and we'll get caught."

"You'll see," Wanda chuckled, pushing them back into the busy street traffic, "Besides, how can you expect me not to shop all day? Tokyo is filled with fashion..."


	23. but then we love and feel the truth

**SILKY CLOTH SWEPT** across the ballroom as partners with their dates, sliding along the crystal floor, the scuffle of heels clicked as the chandelier gave the room, that was dark, light - adding to the amorous mood in the air. The pair walked into the building, at the hip, ready to do what they came to.

"I have to say, I'm glad we did this," Stephen Strange whispered in her ear, "I've been meaning to take you out on a real date."

"Not a date," Wanda Maximoff's arm was linked into his, "The plan is to _look_ like we're dating. We're just..." She didn't even know what they were, the weeks had been filled with endless cheeky banter and playful attacks.

"Friends?" Stephen sighed, he let his hand drift to her waist, his fingers gripped her curves tightly, "I'm afraid friends don't buy seductive dresses to impress each other."

"You act as if you aren't wearing a suit," Wanda reached out a hand to trace the edge of his collar, her fingers adjusting the hem gently.

He chuckled softly, a deep-chested laugh she could barely hear, "I didn't say I bought it, but thank you for taking the time to appreciate how good I look." Her green eyes skated his her body, still proud to say she wasn't disappointed but reptant as he caught her eyes.

She didn't mind his company, the smell of his perfume, the somewhat commodious musky scent drifting into her nose - excusing the fact that she could have known without asking, she just knew that he had gone out of his way to use spend some expense on tonight. The suit was tight fitting, a slick fabric in a pure white colour, tied together with a silky bow around his neck.

Wanda huffed, she rolled her eyes, "Thank you," she accepted the jacket ticket at the entrance, turning in the one they already had.

As soon as they were past the reception, they stood at the top of a large staircase, staring down at the crowd below. Classical music played at a high volume, people danced on the floor. It was an event for the high class, all the guest were soaking in elegance and wealth.

"Can you see them?" Wanda eyed the crowd on the dance floor, trying to spot their target, "I can't see them."

"Relax, Maximoff," Stephen told her as they walked past, "They probably haven't even arrived. Besides, the only place to spot a person on the dance floor...is by dancing."

"Oh, no, no," Her eyebrows curved into a frown, she shook her head in refusal, "You promised me this wouldn't happen."

"People make promises they can't keep," He said, offering her his palm, she stood - reluctant, stuck on what to do.

It descended into an awkward silence after that statement, neither of them wanting to address it, how it held more meaning than it was supposed to. They'd come too far to go back into the cycle of arguing, exceeding the fact they were acting like lovers.

Nevertheless, she took his hand anyway, gripping it tightly as he dragged her into the forest of dancers. They joined their rhythmic procession of the waltz, hips pressed together in a different way, one that made them feel united.

She twisted her head slightly, knocking a strand of red hair, a piece that had fallen out of her decorative bun. It was a style he'd watched her work hours on in the mirror, twisting and curling her hair into shape.

She'd worked on the whole look, face painted, lips red to match the dress she was wearing; one that hung tight to her curves, the neckline slightly plunging.

Though standing in the sea of the upper-class citizens of Switzerland, he could tell she felt underdressed in all the opulence. His guess was clarified when she mumbled again his skin, "I don't think I deserve to be here..."

"Oh, stop it," Stephen twirled her around, her back was now against him, he lowered his head to whisper into her ear, "You're the most gorgeous woman here."

She felt her heart skip a beat in her chest as he spun her around again, facing him again, there was a short moment where they were staring into each other's eyes.

It was a moment where they didn't have to say any words to know that the feelings they had were mutual. It felt like it was only them, dancing under the glow of the chandelier, falling into each other's arms. It was perfect. Stephen took the leap again, he wanted to lean in...

BANG! The sound of a gun sent people running and screaming, three more loud shots followed. Wanda and Stephen separated, his hands crossed before separating, red circles formed around his palms. His clothes were now new ones, his Sorcerer tunic, the eye of Agamotto sitting around his neck, deep red cape rolling to the floor.

They'd gotten distracted, the arsonist team had managed to hijack themselves into the event, men with fearsome assault weapons stood in different positions across the room.

Wanda's hands sparked, she sent a row of armed mercenaries to the floor with a wave. They heard one of the people behind them sending a message to the others, "Stay alert. We have enhanced."

The sorcerer grabbed the witch's hands, pulling her upwards to the upper balcony. She landed on her feet, steadying herself after the flight. "I've got this, you should wrap it up in here."

"No," Stephen extended his arm, drawing back one of his arms to send flickers ahead before turning back, "You stay safe, I'll deal with the nuke."

"Don't..." Wanda kicked the person in front her, flinging them off the edge of the stairs, "Don't be stupid, Strange. I've got the ability to handle-"

"But you don't have the training," He watched her give in with an irritated sigh, "I'm the boss, we don't have time to argue about this."

"Steph-" Wanda reached out an arm to stop him.

"It's okay, it'll be fine," Stephen assured her before he ran into the hallway, pressing the floor with a glow, splitting it in half, an illusion of the Mirror Dimension for those in front of him so he could make his way to the other side of the building. 

Wanda had to trust that he'd be okay, while she was swatting and batting enemies out the way. Reddish blasts sent them tumbling into different directions, her hair had since fell out of its style, falling along her back in ginger locks.

She was getting worried, minutes were turning into hours. He should be back already. Wanda discarded the final foe, pushing them out of the window.

"Stephen!" Wanda ran along the staircase, she heard clatters as she ran down, "Stephen?"

He stood ahead of her, a pleased smile on his face as he held the fuse in his hands, "Did you think I wouldn't come back?"

"I was getting worried..." Wanda sighed in relief, "You were gone for so long, I was staring to think something happened to you- Strange!"

 _BANG!_ The sound of another gunshot rang through her ears before she could process what had happened. He was clutching his side, the wound of a gun shot bleeding out from his chest. 

Wanda pushed down the adversary ahead and he spun onto the floor. She ran to him, crouching down, "Stephen! Are you okay? Just keep your eyes open..."

  
════▣◎▣════

**"WHY COULDN'T YOU** just listen to me?" He was carrying them over his shoulder, they were heavy and lucky they were still alive after what they went through.

The boy's hair was brown, gone through the cycle of being changed to hide his identity. Stripes of silver creeped through his roots, the unnatural strands had started to grow back.

He was thrown down onto the bed, he gripped the bleeding at his hip with a groan, " _Geez_. I would've if I knew they were going to pull out a knife like that."

"You need to be more careful," He scolded him, tugging at his shirt, "Let me see the wound."

"Will you be gentle?" Pietro had a smirk on his face, it got even bigger as he noticed Steve's cheeks go red.

"Just...just shut up," Steve pulled his shirt up, forcefully, "This might hurt..." He warned him before he covered his mouth with a cloth, he already had a hot iron.

" _Fuck_..." Pietro cried, he stopped himself from clutching at his waist.

"Are you okay?" Steve looked down at him worriedly.

"Yeah, yeah," He took a deep breath, "Thank you. Don't worry, I'll survive. I'm pretty strong."

"I know," Steve's subconscious stopped himself from looking at his muscles, "But you're also pretty stupid. You could have got yourself killed."

"No," Pietro shook his head, "You wouldn't have let that happen." Steve's eyes were caught into his, only now did they both realise they had the same striking blue colour. Though, they were close enough for Pietro to see the green in the blue in their eyes.

"Um," Steve cleared his throat, "You can't go around speeding like that. You're gonna get yourself shot."

"Oh please," Pietro sat up with a groan, "I've survived worse." He could tell Steve looked curious, so he continued, "When Wanda and I were on the streets...in Sokovia. After we were too old for the orphanage, we were thrown out onto the streets. We had no money, no source of income...no one wanted us. I didn't eat, I made sure Wanda was okay because that's what I'd always done. We could barely survive with the scraps. I became really sick, I almost died. You could see my bones through my skin, my stomach was turning purple...I was dying."

"Jesus Christ," Steve muttered. Pietro smiled at how much Steve seemed to feel for him. All this care he was giving him - breaking him out of prison, hiding him from the government, risking his life for him on missions they didn't even need to do.

"It was all okay in the end," Pietro smiled, "Strucker was the one who took us in. Remember, the one you-" He didn't know why Pietro was so willing to pour his heart out like this to him and be okay with telling him things like that...

"I'm really sorry," Steve interrupted him, "For everything. All this time I've been hurting you. I know you told me that you had feelings for me..."

Pietro felt a stab in the chest, his heart sank, it had been a while since he remembered what had happened between them. _Nothing_.

"And, I honestly don't know how you could with all I've done to you," Steve stood up, he walked by the desk. It was small, only stacked with condiments to make tea or coffee with the kettle on top of it. "Even after Strucker, I was an asshole to you in the Facility."

"Yeah, I really didn't enjoy your shitty early morning training regimes, Captain. But, besides from that you've kinda grown on me."

"Hmm. You're alright too from time to time," Steve handed him a mug full of tea. "Now, drink up and go to bed, kid."

"Wow," Pietro rolled his eyes, "You always know how to ruin a moment. Unless, you want...to join me?"

Steve shook his head, "No, I think Sam would kill me if I took the bed from him. You know he called dibs on the bed, I'll be fine on the floor."

Pietro despised his obliviousness to what he meant. "God, that stupid pigeon ruins everything," He muttered as he tucked himself in later next to a snoring Falcon.


End file.
